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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Cellnight is the new verse novel from poet John Kinsella Cellnight takes us into a prison where a protestor sits having been taken in for demonstrating against nuclear warships. In the cells the protestor bears witness to abuses even as the sounds of the harbour wash in through the windows and the whole, the truth of the evening becomes a matter of remembrance. Of a clash between what occurred and what is chronicled in the official record. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Jane Harrison is a playwright & author descended from the Muruwari people. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed play Stolen and today I am going to introduce you to the novelisation of her most recent play The Visitors. The Visitors takes us to Gadigal Land in January of 1788. On this sweltering day a strange sight appears in the harbour and immediately spurs the locals into action. Messages are sent to the Nations of the coastal and river regions calling seven men, elders in their clans to congregate and decide what must be done now that The Visitors have returned. My first thoughts as I started reading The Visitors was that this is a story that is both known and completely unknown to me. As I thought back to my education, sparse as it may have been on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, I realised that the landing of Arthur Phillip in what we now call Sydney is not a story that is told as much as it’s an assumption that is made and then built upon. The genius of The Visitors is that it not only unpacks those assumptions it seeks to explore the story; the stories of the land and the people before that fateful day. As the group congregate to consider their options, one man, more thoughtful than his peers considers not just the sight before but its meaning. He asks…”I am wondering… how we will remember this day”. The irony of course is that these words must be put onto the lips of a fictional witness because remembering is not something we do well in this country. In The Visitors Jane Harrison is challenging readers with the omissions in the narrative. We awake on unceded land (as we do each since incidentally) to the surprise and interest of men and women intrigued but also put out by the interruption to their daily lives. We meet each of the emissaries as they prepare for the meeting assembling weapons and considering tactics. It’s a particular genius of the novel that it translates the story culturally, allowing the reader to understand the tension and the mundanity of such an important day; we learn of petty differences and old grudges. We come to understand that ceremonies are important but that this doesn’t mean someone’s not going to interrupt or get impatient. When I looked back on the paucity of education I received about what really happened when British ships invaded these shores, I was struck that in all my learning I was given the impression that the people who arrived were there by right. By consequence this meant that the people they met on the shores were just in the way. In The Visitors Harrison tells a history that shows us these men and women were custodians and lawmakers; tied to their lands and seeking to defend it. The novel asks us to take another look at what we think we know about that history and everything that has been built on it.
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Kirsty Jagger is a journalist by trade. She won the debut Heyman Mentorship award and has now published her debut novel Roseghetto. Shayla’s working on an assignment for her newspaper when she returns to Westminster Way. Her brief is exploring new integrated housing developments and how they mix social housing with private. Shayla grew up in Westminster Way and wasn’t prepared to see the street and surrounding suburb leveled in preparation for shiny new homes. The sight throws up memories of Shayla’s early life and how it has brought her to where she is today…
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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sydney khoo was the recipient of the Penguin Random House Australia’s Write It fellowship. Today I’m bringing you their new novel The Spider and Her Demons. The Spider and Her Demons High School can be hard at the best of times but somehow Zhi juggles study, tutoring and working in her Aunt’s dumpling shop. Zhi’s Aunt Mei has sacrificed a lot so that Zhi can attend a private school and all she asks in return is that Zhi maintain an 85 point grade average and hide the fact she has fangs, spinnerets and four prehensile limbs that emerge from her back! This story is wild! We dive headfirst into the world of Zhi as she navigates being a teenager with more than the regular amount of challenge to her life. The world building here is terrific. Zhi attends a (fictional) Sydney private school, whilst working in a dumpling shop in Chinatown. Everything is laid out for local readers to orient themselves to this world, which makes it particularly effective when it all goes sideways. On the one hand there is the regular amount of teenage angst and we ride alongside Zhi as she and her friends are just normally being normal. On the other we are treated to Zhi’s anxiety as she revels in this normalcy, even as she feels it can’t last. The aforementioned spider biology is a cause for constant stress and Zhi knows she has to be less than normal, she has to be practically invisible. The Spider and Her Demons takes the reader into the world of Zhi’s hyper consciousness of her body. We are shown that who she is is both exceptional and terrifyingly normal. Zhi’s daily routine to style her hair so that it hides her spider eyes is not so far any teenagers styling their way into some semblance of what they hope their peers will deem acceptable. The difference Zhi struggles to accept in herself is only highlighted by the constant gossip surrounding the most popular girl in school, Dior Panne-Nix. While Zhi just wants to be like everyone else she must also confront that she doesn’t even exist in Dior’s orbit. Of course all this is primed for chaos as Zhi’s secret is threatened one fateful night and she finds herself thrown into the path of Dior! The Spider and Her Demons works both as a fantastical new world to discover and as a character driven exploration of individuals just trying to make it through their days. sydney khoo writes her protagonist with power and doubt and so what might otherwise fall into superhero fare becomes a journey of personal discovery. Right now it’s probably important to note everything I’m not saying about The Spider and Her Demons. This book is brand new so I’m not going to go about blabbing all the best bits for a bit of analysis. Suffice to say that Zhi’s spider form is just the beginning of a vast world that is hurtling towards Zhi. In short measure getting a pass mark is a thing of the past and even survival looks like the wrong question as a whole world unfolds before us. I’m a big fan of genre and the fantastic and The Spider and Her Demons gives us these in spades. It also takes the outcast hero out of the comfortable worlds of Marvel and DC and shows us how this works at the intersection of multiple identities. I can’t talk around the spoilers any longer so let me just recommend you go and check out sydney khoo’s The Spider and Her Demons so we can all revel in it together. Bonus - There’s a full conversation with sydney on the Final Draft podcast…
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Rachel is an award winning painter from WA The story of New York City Glow is deceptively simple… An octopus named Strawberry and a snake named Ray road trip across the continental USA in the late seventies landing in New York in time to save the city from the forces of darkness and secure the future of music forever! Discover Rachel's incredible story and award winning art today on the show!
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Angela O’Keeffe is the author of Night Blue which was nominated for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Today I’ve brought you her latest novel The Sitter A writer sits in a hotel room in Paris early 2020. By her side is the disembodied form of Hortense Cezanne. The writer has traveled to France to capture the essence of Hortense for a book about the wife and muse to Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne. Hortense has returned to the country of her birth for reasons not yet clear to her. Now the two are confined to their hotel room as the world descends into a strange and unknowable illness, forced to observe the quietening world outside. The Sitter is a strange beast of a novel. Narrated in turns by the long dead Hortense and the reminiscences of the unnamed writer the book asks the reader to ponder creativity both from the perspective of the creator and their subject. When we meet Hortense Cezanne she is variously the wife and muse of the painter Cezanne and the freshly reincarnated spirit of the same grappling with her place in the world a century after her death. This is no fantastical mode of the author but rather a realisation of the author’s work in creating. So often I’ve spoken with authors who talk of their characters being ‘real’ to them. O’Keeffe takes this a step further inserting Hortense into the narrative as she grapples with becoming a reality through the writer’s words. O’Keeffe’s writer must in her turn work to discover the reality of the Hortense who sits by her side. This disembodied spirit is perhaps not enough to justify her book but how can she discover and then in her way create a fuller figure? The books turns on an empty street near the center of Paris. As the world succumbs to the early days of the as yet unknown Coronavirus the writer witnesses a tragedy that turns her thoughts inwards. Now she can no longer simply write Hortense’s story. Stuck in her hotel room she is drawn to a new narrative. Abandoning Hortense’s story the writer turns to her memories to write the story of her own drive and creativity. I was fascinated by The Sitter for its exploration of the creative process and its questioning of the artists motivations. Hortense is given voice to expose how she has been silenced and the writer must delve into her own silence to uncover the story she needs to tell. Both of these stories ruminate on women’s bodies and the ways they are made subject and subjected to a process that renders them voiceless. A process that is rectified somewhat in the ultimate telling of the tale. The Sitter is an intriguing work and please don’t doubt that I have oversimplified it even as I worked to understand it. I’ll be going back. This is the sort of novel that rewards rereadings and asks of its reader that they take the time to think about the voices and the characters given voice.
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. sydney khoo (they/them) is a nonbinary and aromantic asexual writer, born on Dharawal Country in South Western Sydney, to Malaysian Chinese parents. They are the recipient of the Penguin Random House Australia’s Write It fellowship. sydney joins us today with their new novel The Spider and Her Demons. High School can be hard at the best of times but somehow Zhi juggles study, tutoring and working in her Aunt’s dumpling shop. Zhi’s Aunt Mei has sacrificed a lot so that Zhi can attend a private school and all she asks in return is that Zhi maintain an 85 point grade average and hide the fact she has fangs, spinnerets and four prehensile limbs that emerge from her back! Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading! Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Irene Diakanastasis presents a gripping interview with Mercedes Mercier on her new novel Black Lies Only a handful of inmates in Westmead Prison have committed crimes so atrocious that they've been locked away for life, and for fifteen years, convicted murderer Tomas Kovak has refused to disclose where he hid the body of his victim, a vulnerable young woman. When Kovak is diagnosed with terminal cancer, intense pressure is put on Dr Laura Fleming, criminal psychologist, to find the location of Kovak's victim so her grieving family can find some sort of closure. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading! Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
August is Poetry Month! Each year Red Room Poetry celebrate Australian poets and poetry through a series of events, workshops and showcases throughout August. Red Room Poetry are now in their 20th year and are celebrating Poetry Month this August. Gamilaraay/Gomeroi poet Lulu Houdini shares her poem 'Mangrove Girls'. For more details check out redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month You can get more books, writing and literary culture every week on the Final Draft Great Conversations podcast. Hear interviews with authors and discover your next favourite read! Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Amy Lovat is a writer, a curator and researcher. She hosts the Secret Book Stuff podcast alongside Laura Kebby. Amy joins Andrew on the show with her debut novel Mistakes and Other Lovers. El has some questions she’d like answers to. Like why did she implode her old life? Is this new life necessarily better, or just different? And is it Mace, or Kik, or both that she really loves? They’re questions for herself, but that doesn’t mean the answers are necessarily forthcoming. As El’s life careers further from her control she knows something has to give, but does that something move her forward, or take her back to where she came from? Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Amy Suiter Clarke is the author of Girl 11. Del swore she’d never return. But years after she left Bower and the Messiah Church Del finds herself drawn back into its orbit by a mysterious message from her ex Lars. Del also swore she’d never talk to Lars again after he left her for her friend Eve, but now Lars sounds contrite. Before Del has the chance to call Lars back though she discovers he’s been killed. The press are calling it a tragic accident but Del knows better about Messiah and how they always protect their own. Lay Your Body Down is at turns a mystery and a thriller. The reader travels alongside Del as she returns to her hometown and into the hostile arms of the extended church she fled after high school. Within the world of the Messiah it’s all ‘nothing to see here’ and we must take Del at face value that the church is an insidious threat. At its core Messiah church and the teachings of its charismatic Pastor Rick are fairly stock standard evangelical stuff. The twist here though is a regressive sense of gendered duty that compels women in the church to go above and beyond in a doctrine they call ‘Noble Wife’. ‘Noble Wife’ compels the women of the church into extremes of purity and is spearheaded by Del’s best friend Eve. Eve has written a blog about the Noble Wife teachings that exported the smalltown doctrine around the world. The same Eve who stole Del’s boyfriend and is why Del can’t believe this is all just a simple accident. Off-balance is one way to describe the experience of reading Lay Your Body Down. We meet Del and she is off-balance in life. It’s a state we come to understand has been her normal since she left Bower and her entire life in Messiah. Del’s state of personal and social vertigo follows her as she tries to investigate Lars' death. We quickly learn it’s one thing to have suspicions and another entirely to prove them (or even get others to believe they might be true). Del’s uncertainty at the truth of her case mirrors the social unease she feels ostracized from her church. Even if she was no longer able to follow their misogynistic doctrines that doesn’t mean she knows how to exist in a world outside of the church’s oppressive embrace. The novel is terrifically terrifying because even as we are rooting for Del to solve the mystery at the heart of Lars’ death we understand that it may just lead her to lose so much more. The spiritual death she felt when she left Messiah the first time is visited on her again and again making her constantly doubt herself. As we follow Del on her quest we come to view in its full horror the methods and means of control exercised on all the women at Messiah. Lay Your Body Down may ostensibly be about the death of one man but it comes to reveal a much darker and deeper violence being perpetrated. This was a real page turner and got me as much with its social commentary as its whodunnit style. Loved this review? You can get more books, writing and literary culture every week on the Final Draft Great Conversations podcast. Hear interviews with authors and discover your next favourite read! Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Andrew is joined by Dr Tamryn Bennet, a poet and the Artistic Director of Red Room Poetry. Launched in 2021 by Red Room Poetry, Poetry Month aims to increase access, awareness and visibility of poetry in all its forms and for all audiences. Poetry Month features a range of accessible online events and live streams, workshops by international guest poets, writing prompts via our daily #30in30 comp, and poetic installations. Find out more at Red Room Poetry - https://redroompoetry.org/
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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A.W. Hammond has a new Auguste Duchene novel out called The Berlin Traitor so let' go back and revisit my Book Club for Auguste's first outing, The Paris Collaborator It’s Paris. August 1944. Auguste Duchene is renowned for his ability to find missing people. He doesn’t see race or nationality, only people who need his help. But Duchene is about to find himself in an impossible situation; as the Allies close in on Paris Duchene must find a missing priest and a German soldier. The set up is deceptively simple; Duchene must help the Resistance to find a missing priest with a cache of guns, whilst also help the Nazis find a missing soldier in a war full of missing people. If he fails in either mission his daughter will be killed. If either side finds out about the other, Duchene's own life is forfeit. Into this intriguing setting Hammond crafts a story about loyalty in a time of extremes. I was first drawn to The Paris Collaborator as a flight of pure escapism. Rightly or wrongly stories of war time heroism can offer a means of simplifying the world. In Duchene though I found something more than simply a white hat on his way to riding off into the sunset. The Paris Collaborator pits polarised ideologies, both equally willing to brutalise and kill and both equally assured of their righteousness. From the distance of history we might say there was only one way, but as we walk the streets of a war torn city with Duchene we are shown the difficulty of individual clarity. and believes that this is enough to survive the war. And so we come to the heart of The Paris Collaborator, because even though we do not find ourselves fighting on the streets of Sydney we are equally thrown into ideological battles that seem to give no quarter. As Duchene races to complete his mission the Allies approach Paris and its ultimate liberation. The question becomes as much will Duchene prevail, as how will his actions be viewed in the aftermath. Hammond has drawn an immensely satisfying historical novel with beautifully realised scenes at the ground level. Drawing on archives and photographs of the time, the writing makes you feel as if you are walking the cobbled streets. In mixing genres we also find ourselves shifting between war, crime and espionage wrought in sepia, noir tones. I could almost see Bogart playing Duchene (only he’d destroy the accent). The Paris Collaborator is a tremendous read with some important ideas. Before you get online and destroy someone anonymously you might want to think about how pitted ideologies actually serve us as a community. As this novel shows us when we see only stereotypes everyday kindness is destroyed and that tends only to help the powerful at all our expense.
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Dale has a secret that’s eating away at him. He saw something, guys he knows from school, at a party, with a girl. She didn’t look like she was awake. They didn’t look like they were asking. Dale was drunk. He didn’t do anything and now he doesn’t know what he saw or what it means. Dale’s really wrapped up in what this means for him, when maybe he should be thinking about what it meant for Chloe. Join Andrew and Robyn as they discuss Blind Spot Content Warning - This episode contains discussion of sexual assault Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Ok book lovers, strap in I’ve got a wild one for you this week. New York City Glow is the debut novel from award winning portrait artist Rachel Coad. Just in case it doesn’t come up later, Rachel’s paintings are amazing and yuo should check them out on her website… https://www.rachelcoad.com.au/ New York City Glow’s synopsis is just about the most fun I’ve ever had summarizing a text… An octopus named Strawberry and a snake named Ray road trip across the continental USA in the late seventies landing in New York in time to save the city from the forces of darkness and secure the future of music forever! So this is a graphic novel. Rachel’s art blends sepia, photorealistic cityscapes with the cartoonish reptiles and an almost horror movie-like quality to her protagonists tentacles. The overall effect is a kind of phantasmagoric period piece set in 1970’s America. The story is something of a hero’s quest. Strawberry is a bioluminescent octopus (look it up) whose perennial glow keeps getting her in trouble. She’s got an ex-con with an FBI record but all she really wants is to make music. During her last prison stint Strawberry was subjected to horrific experiments and on the day she’s released she meets Ray who drives them cross country to New York. Strawberry seeks fame and stardom in the Big Apple but all she finds in rejection. Finally she winds up as the janitor at CBGB’s and is there front and center to see The Ramones play live on the infamous night in 1977 when the entirety of New York is thrown into chaos as the city blacks out (look it up). The book is an absolute riot for the senses as Coad goes out of her way to engage her reader on every level. The story is minimalist but that does not mean it’s lacking (it’s so wild you’d be overrun if anything more happened). Marry this with the gorgeous visuals that offer the reader a world in every panel. To top it all off Coad has a suggested playlist; each page is matched to a song and the whole thing is collected in its own Spotify playlist so you can sing along. I’m 90% recommending this book because it’s just so much fun. Maybe I don’t emphasize this enough, but these book club reviews are all about books I’ve personally enjoyed and this is one I’ve already read twice. New York City Glow is not without its themes though and in Ray and Strawberry’s journey in search of meaning I found a little of the existential crisis we all go through as we try to find our way in life. Sure none of us are glow-in-the-dark cephalopods (and more power to you if you are) but that doesn’t mean Strawberry’s tale won’t resonate. Go and check out New York City Glow and don’t forget to turn it up to eleven!
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Sarah Hutchison arrives at Ngangahook adrift. She has floated from her boarding school days in England, through continental Europe to arrive on the bush property outside Geelong. At Ngangahook Sarah is surrounded by nature and soon begins to infuse her world. In her poetry and through her music, played on a posthumanist piano modified with elements plucked from the world around her, Sarah finds a sense of self not as apart from nature but as a piece in its whole. Sarah and her Uncle Fernny fashion Ngangahook as their own paradise, but could it also be a bastion against the fast encroaching modern world? Join Andrew and discover Gregory Day's The Bell of the World Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Today I’ve brought you a book that goes to the heart of our country. It’s called The Voice to Parliament Handbook and it has been written by Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien. Thomas Mayo is a Larrakia man who has written extensively about the Uluru Statement including Finding the Heart of the Nation, and Finding Our Heart, a book for young readers with illustrations by Blak Douglas. Kerry O’Brien is an award winning journalist whose is known for his work on 7.30, Lateline and Four Corners. Now this is not our usual fare of Australian Literature that I have each week for book club. But I wanted to bring this particular book in because the discussion around The Voice is so very important and this book offers a straightforward exploration of what is ‘The Voice’, how we got here and what it means to have this opportunity to vote in a referendum. Each week when I present Final Draft on Saturday mornings, I talk about how these stories we read, that they are the stories that make us who we are. Stories have the power to reflect our world and in reading them; in taking them to heart or roundly rejecting them we in turn shape our world. The Voice to Parliament Handbook doesn’t deal in abstractions though. It very clearly lays out the history, the movement to the voice and the issues that impact us as we prepare for a vote later this year. In a very real sense this book is part of a story that will shape who all of us are. So don’t we owe to ourselves to do the work, to read the information and make sure when we vote, we vote with as much information as possible. The Voice to Parliament Handbook is a slim volume, clocking in at just under a hundred pages. It’s inexpensive too (I saw it online for just twelve dollars). The goal seemingly to make this information as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. With all the shouting and political arguments, not to mention the seemingly contradictory misinformation out there this is a wonderful opportunity to get information from respected writers. Each chapter of the book opens up a facet of the history, journey and future of The Voice. The book begins with a transcript of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. This powerful document is a must hear for all. The book takes us on a journey through the history of the struggle for First Nations peoples to have an effective voice and to ensure it is heard. Later chapters describe for readers ‘what is a referendum?’ The purpose and mechanics of the vote. Many of the frequently asked, or accused questions are laid out to debunk myths and misinformation. We are also treated to eminent scholars including Professor Fiona Stanley and Professor Marcia Langton discussing the practical implications of the Voice for supporting communities and closing the gap. This book is an invitation to everyone out there who is wondering about the voice or is perhaps feeling like they need more information to give to their loved ones. As we listen to opponents of the voice run a scare campaign behind the slogan “If you don’t know, vote no”, this book claps back with “If you don’t know, take the time to educate yourself”. I’ve got my copy and I’m going to pass it along to whoever wants to find out more. Many people will do the same and I’d challenge all you booklovers, you lovers of knowledge and those of you who want to find out, go and get a copy of The Voice to Parliament Handbook by Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien. When history is made later this year it will help you to understand why this is such an important step forward for all of us.
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Robbie Egan is the CEO of Book People, formerly the Australian Booksellers Association. Book People are a not-for-profit advocacy group for booksellers. Robbie joins Andrew today to discuss the ‘Importance of Imagination’ study, a report commissioned by Book People that looks into how Australians build their imaginations and the role reading plays in that process. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Stella is an organisation that celebrates and promotes books by Australian women and non-binary writers. They support greater participation in the world of literature, and in doing so create a more equitable and vibrant national culture. The 2023 Stella Prize has been won by Sarah Holland-Batt's The Jaguar. Sarah joins Andrew on the show to talk poetry, life, death and her win. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Monica Vuu is a Tasmanian based writer from Langley, British Columbia. When One Of Us Hurts is her first book. In the coastal town of Port Brighton the locals look after each other. When two deaths occur too close together the town is on edge. Port Brighton has always been wary of outsiders so suspicion naturally falls on the drowned boy Sebastian’s best friend Johnny and his mother Marie. When a reporter descends on the town seeking to unearth the truth of the events all anyone knows is that they have to protect their own, because in Port Brighton when one town member hurts, they all hurt. … When One of Us Hurts is an absolutely wild ride through a dark pastoral landscape where small town values are viewed through the prism of a funhouse mirror. Monica Vuu draws the reader into the township of Port Brighton and its xenophobic tourist policy through the eyes of Livvy and Marie. Marie is an outsider. Although she has lived with her son Johnny in Port Brighton for years, the residents still view them as foreign and untrustworthy. Livvy is an insider. When her father moves in with Marie she inherits Johnny as her step brother. Livvy and Marie don’t agree on much but they are both fiercely loyal to Johnny. When suspicion falls on him following the discovery of two bodies both will do whatever they can to protect Johnny and the town. … It’s tangled web of loyalties that ties together the narrative of When One of Us Hurts. The bucolic pastoral idyll of small town life is magnified to horrific proportions as we see a town attempting to deal with the twin blows of death and notoriety. Livvy sits on her favorite seat in the local cafe watching as towns folk come and go talking of the recent terrible events. The cafe is a hub for all in the area and the perfect place to gather information. It’s almost as if Vuu is challenging the reader along with Livvy to unpick the strange occurrences before the nosy reporter unearths something he shouldn’t. Marie sits in her room at Lacey House. Working through her memories of arriving in town, the death of her partner and Livvy and her father joining their family she seems to be seeking some clue as to how it all came to this. Monica Vuu’s characterisation of the residents of port Brighton is a chill to behold. She slowly draws out the mystery even as she draws us deeper into the fold of Port Brighton’s windswept streets. There’s a mystery barely acknowledged in this review but one that grips you as you work your way into the story. It’s a testament to the storytelling that the darkness that grips this novel is so cleverly hidden as to elicit a genuine shock as it comes to the surface. Too often we talk about summer reads and beach books but When One of Us Hurts is the perfect companion to curling up by the fire on these cold windswept nights!
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Yasmin Smith is an editor, writer and poet of South Sea Islander, Kabi Kabi, Northern Cheyenne and English heritage. Today Yasmin joins Andrew as the series editor of UQP’s First Nations Classics The First Nations Classics series gathers prominent Indigenous voices who continuously, as they have always done, revive the literary landscape of this continent. The First Nations Classics includes:
Unbranded by Herb Wharton, introduced by Kev Carmody
Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington), introduced by Tara June Winch
Blood by Tony Birch, introduced by Larissa Behrendt
Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven, introduced by Alison Whittaker
Don't Take Your Love to Town by Ruby Langford Gibini, introduced by Nardi Simpson
The Window Seat by Archie Weller, introduced by Ernie Dingo
Purple Threads by Jeanine Leane, introduced by Evelyn Araluen
Holocaust Island by Graeme Dixon, introduced by Ali Cobby Eckermann
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Chloé Hayden is a speaker, actor, author, and disability rights activist. You might have caught her on the rebooted Heartbreak High where she plays Quinni. Chloe was diagnosed as Autistic at age thirteen and all of her incredible and varied work aims to support, make visible and build understanding about Neurodiversity. Different, Not Less is something of a clarion call to a Neurotypical word that Neurodiversity exists and that it is Different, Not Less. Chloe’s story is part biography, part manifesto, part warm hug for neurodiverse folk (who incidentally, make up about 12% of the population according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics). Full disclosure here, In my day job I am a Speech Pathologist and supporting neurodiversity is a big and important part of what I try to do every day. For too long the work of understanding and making decisions for people on the Autism Spectrum has been left to Neurotypical people. I wanted to bring you all this book because it speaks so well to things that many of us don’t have in our daily experience, but that we need to understand to better make the world a place that is open for everyone. Chloe’s book pulls back the veil on the ways that a neurotypical world too often gets it wrong when it comes to neurodiverse people. Taking the structure of Autobiography, Chloe explores her experiences from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. In these stories she talks about her confusion at not understanding why she didn’t fit in, her torment at the hands of people who wanted her to conform to a certain way of being and the harms she experienced trying to be someone she’s not. Along the way she teaches the reader about what it means to be Autistic and (to come back to the title) why it is different not less. Chloe bares her soul to help the reader understand sensory difference and how sensory processing underpins so much of our daily experiences. The book works to bring a relatable understanding of sensory processing and how extreme sensations can disrupt a person's daily experiences. The story takes in what it means to feel apart, or outside the everyday of peers and family. Chloe explores her own pain to help people understand both what it means to be Autistic, but also what isn’t inherent, but is in fact a product of the way society treats people who are different. Mental Health is a big and important conversation in the book. Chloe has a wonderful way of introducing the topic and of preparing readers with signals for topics that may be too much. And there’s a lot in this book that feels too much. We are shown the harm that is done in a one-size-fits-all world, a world that has little tolerance for difference. There’s a lot to recommend Different Not Less but I would say it is hard to go past its heart and the generous way Chloe Hayden takes her platform and uses it to support a world that has not done its fair share to understand. Neurodiversity is about all of us and supporting neurodiverse folks means taking more time to listen to their stories and then changing our world to be a more open place. Loved this review? You can get more books, writing and literary culture every week on the Final Draft Great Conversations podcast. Hear interviews with authors and discover your next favourite read! Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. George’s life feels too loud. Her best friend Tess has decided to get pregnant at eighteen, but George will be there for her just like she always has been. She’ll be there for Tess just like she’s there for her family and her friends. George is even trying to find a way to be there for her estranged dad when he calls her out of the blue to drop some world shattering news. George will be there for them all because she doesn’t know how to not be there for them. It’s all too noisy. And now with fires ringing the city, her dad’s incessant calls and a new girl appearing on the beach. George can’t help feeling when something might just be for her. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Today on book club we're previewing University of Queensland Press' new First Nations Classics series. The First Nations Classics collects incredible writers and brings their works back to the reading public. This series opens up the landscape of writing in so-called Australia and asks questions about who gets to tell the story and what it means to be a classic. You can get more books, writing and literary culture every week on the Final Draft Great Conversations podcast. Hear interviews with authors and discover your next favourite read! Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Martha Elliott’s approach to psychotherapy is unconventional, but her unorthodox methods have not gone unnoticed… The arrival of a mysterious couple in Martha's office sets in motion a series of events that will cut to heart of Martha’s practice and deep into the raw truths about human nature, forcing Martha to confront her own demons. Who are they, and what do they know about Martha? Join Andrew and discover Hugh Mackay’s The Therapist Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Holly Throsby is novelist and musician and whether it’s a three minute folk pop tune or three hundred page novel, she knows how to spin a yarn. Holly’s novels Goodwood and Cedar Valley have been nominated for Ned Kelly, Davitt and Indie book awards and her new novel Clarke is destined to continue the tradition of exploring the warm welcomes, community and dark underbelly of 90’s regional Australia..In a nondescript street in Clarke (a city since the seventies) Barney Clarke (no relation) is woken by a knock on the door. A veritable platoon of police have arrived to execute a search warrant on his house and backyard.Next door Leonie observes the police’s arrival, thinking to herself that they are six years too late to help her missing friend Ginny Lawson.From these simple but compelling beginnings Holly Throsby weaves a story of the lives, community and institutions we come to rely on, and how they too often fall short in protecting those most vulnerable.Clarke is told through the alternating stories of Leonie and Barney. As the police scour Barney’s rental property for clues to the disappearance of Ginny, we learn that both Leonie and Barney have their own secrets.Six years earlier Leonie and Ginny were neighbors. Leonie struggled to manage the expectations of her aging mother and awaited the infrequent return of her older sister. Leonie and Ginny would talk over the fence but rarely visited each other. Ginny’s husband wouldn’t allow it; didn’t think it was good for her.Lou was an upstanding member of the community. Successful businessman and member of the local hunting club. They were the picture of the perfect suburban family and everyone thought how devastating it must have been for Lou when one day Ginny simply disappeared.Across town Barney and Deb had their own picture of suburban idyll. Members of the hiking club and with their boy in high school, Deb and Barney formed the core of a large social circle.So how is it that now Barney still wears a ring but lives alone. Why does Leonie mother Joe and where did he come from?Clarke unfolds these stories with the question hanging over how we maintain the relationships that form our communities. Throsby shows us friendships hard won and worked on everyday and acquaintances that rely more on conjecture and hearsay. Into this space she leaves the fate of Ginny as open question; when nobody asks who will ever know the truth?I love Holly Throsby’s novels for their mystery and for their warmth. Over three books she has crafted the wide expanse of the fictional Gather Region and populated it with people not dissimilar to ourselves. In holding up this mirror she is able to call into question the morals, the values, even the stories that seem fundamental to our sense of ourselves.Clarke’s central mystery is not just ‘what really happened to Ginny Lawson’ but how it was allowed to happen. An open secret. A culture of keeping up appearances is called into question and through Barney and Leonie we see a blossoming hope that we are more than the events of our past.I’m a fan of Clarke and I’d have to say that while the Jacarandas are still purple and the sun’s not too hot, it’s the perfect read for an afternoon sitting in the sun.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Siang Liu is the award-winning author of The Whitewash (UQP), and the co-creator of The Beige Index.Brood Empire was meant to be a landmark for Asian representation in Hollywood. With a $350 million budget and a lead who looked like he'd been carved from stone this would be THE film that broke through and put all the subtle and overt racist stereotypes to bed.Instead production was dogged from the start, the lead got pulped in an ill advised cage fight and the whole set leaked worse than Tom Holland on a bender. The Whitewash is the unofficial history of the rise and fall of Brood Empire detailing not only the film’s unseemly demise but its origins in the anals of racist representation of Asia and Asians throughout 20th century filmmaking.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
I had a pretty terrific stay down the Snowy Mountains last weekend and amongst some spectacular views, incredible animal spotting and good times with mates it also got me thinking about my reading. One book in particular sprang to mind, but before I get to that I wanted to reflect on this whole reading thing we do and why I love spending so much time reading, reporting and sharing books. Books are wild when you think about it. These portals to other times, other worlds, other people's thoughts and perspectives. They’re so wondrous that I think sometimes it washes over us and we don’t take note of what’s happening to our little gray cells. But this weekend as I wandered the high country and discovered mountain streams and platypus dens a book I had read was recalled to me and I suddenly had a whole lens to look at what I was discovering. All this information came flooding back to me and as I recalled I shared with my friends. In this act of sharing I had to come to terms and reframe what I had understood and then have that understanding interrogated. My perspectives mingled with the writer’s and were challenged or agreed on by my friends. Together we took this information and compared it with what we were experiencing. My mates are great conversationalists but having this extra dimension just took it to another level. Reading had transformed our interaction. So what was the book? The Brumby Wars - The Battle for the Soul of Australia by Anthony Sharwood Anthony Sharwood is a Walkley Award-winning journalist. He loves the high country as evidenced in his 2020 book From Snow to Ash, and his 2021 book The Brumby Wars. The Brumby Wars chronicles the history of the ongoing battles between supporters of wild horses in the Australian Bush (known as Brumbies) and those who see the destruction they cause to fragile ecosystems and want to see them controlled. The book takes an open approach to the debate, as Anthony tries to hear all sides. We begin with the challenges of confronting and contrasting the scientific and ecological understanding of feral horses with the cultural understanding of Brumbies. With some surveys noting that 78% of Victorians didn’t know that Brumbies were listed by Parks Victoria as pests Sharwood comes to the conclusion that “Mythology has become reality” and the power of storytelling has overtaken the reality of what is happening in the landscape. But this is a battle that literally plays out on the Mountains and in the halls of political power. With passionate, often extreme supporters on both sides Sharwood sounds a warning against tilting towards these extremes. In the year since the books was published we’ve seen one of the Brumby’s biggest supporters John Barilaro leave politics, a plan to manage Brumby populations in Kosciusko was established by the NSW government and protestors have filmed themselves dismantling Brumby trap yards. It’s apparent that even when settled the issue remains alive for so many. The Brumby Wars is a fascinating look at modern Australian culture. It takes in thousands of years of Indigenous History and the extraordinary damage done in the relatively short period since invasion. The book even questions the ways stories can be co opted to the cause. One mythology that is central to the story of brumbies in the high country is the work of Banjo Patterson and particularly his poem The Man From Snowy River. In the book Sharwood uncovers scholarship that suggests the eponymous ‘Man’ may have been Indigenous. This may seem an historical footnote to the everyday destruction of hooves on fragile ecosystems but it speaks to the lengths that storytelling may go to shape reality to its own ends. This is just a taste of what you’ll find in The Brumby Wars. It’s no hyperbole when the subtitle proclaims this The Battle for the Soul of Australia. Do yourself a favour and check it out…
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Today I’m joined on the show by Sulari Gentil. In her new novel The Woman in the Library Sulari Gentill is crafting a new novel about bestselling Australian crime author Hannah Tigone, who is crafting a new novel about neophyte Australian crime writer Winifred Kincaid who just might be crafting a novel about yet another crime writer except that she’s gotten herself stuck in a real life mystery! Join me as we discover Sulari Gentil’s The Woman in the Library... Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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“The day my daughter went missing, we were at war” Abbie isn’t a bad mum. Like so many parents she is exhausted, overworked, trying her best when one day someone takes advantage and steals her daughter Sarah from a busy street market. Six years later and Abbie has another life. She can never move on from that tragic day but she is trying. That is until a phone call offers the tantalizing hope; knowledge of Sarah. All Abbie has to do is blow up her life… Vikki Wakefield is a celebrated author of young adult fiction. After You Were Gone is her first foray into ‘adult’ fiction and fans of her writing will recognise the tense realism and sharply drawn characters that infuse her work. The novel ostensibly unfolds dual narratives; Before and After the day that Sarah disappears. Within these stories we meet two very different versions of Abbie; one young and recklessly trying to define her life, the other cautiously rebuilding barely believing she might ever be whole. Drawing these two Abbies together is the mysterious caller. Someone who knows what has happened to Sarah. Someone angry and who won’t stop until Abbie acknowledges some intangible piece of the past. After You Were Gone is an expansive story about the ties that bind us together and what happens when we start to lose sight of those closest to us. Abbie feels her life defined by her family and the close community she has grown up in. Most particularly she feels the claustrophobic weight of her mother’s expectations. It is against these expectations that Abbie flees to the city and it is despite these expectations that Abbie returns pregnant and unsure of what her life now holds. Bonds between mother and daughter run throughout the narrative and the title; After You Were Gone serves as a lament to the dream of a parent watching their child grow from dependence into their own self. After You Were Gone also works as a challenge to identity. Throughout the novel Abbie must fight to define herself; against her mother, her best friend, her small town’s limited expectations of a young single mother. As these identities are stripped away she must struggle to recognise herself anew. Then when she finally feels she might be free of the past, her mysterious antagonist strikes out at the very thing she has fought so long for; a new sense of self. After You Were Gone is a gripping mystery. There is a real thrill in racing to try and uncover the mystery and I got the sense Wakefield understands this as she throws false turns and twists in the reader's way. More than the mystery though, it is the journey of Abbie as she moves along something of a twisted distortion of the hero's quest to find her long lost daughter. There is a sense of tragic inevitability, we know she won’t like the answer. But we are compelled, like Abbie to see this out and face the shocking truth. After You Were Gone is not what you think it is and the novel glories in rocketing the reader onto its conclusion. This is not a book to start late at night, you won’t be getting any sleep!
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Today we're joined on the show by Paul Daley. Paul is a Walkley Award winning journalist, author and essayist. His new novel Jesustown is a compelling narrative that forces a lens up to colonial and contemporary attitudes towards First Nations Peoples. As Patrick Renmark lands in the remote former mission town of Jesustown, he is a broken man. He accepts he is the author of his own destruction; an affair that blew up into the public eye has caused a cascade of events that have destroyed his entire world. With nowhere else to turn, Patrick begrudgingly accepts the commission to tell the story of his Grandfather Nathaniel Renmark. A commission that sees Patrick returning to Jesustown and facing another shame that drove him away decades before. Join me as we discover Paul Daley’s Jesustown... Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Today I’m joined on the show by Maryam Master. Maryam is a screenwriter, playwright and author and she is joining us with her new novel No Words Year Six is meant to be a time of change; taking on new challenges a conquering. Hero has always struggled to live up to her name, but this time she has to remind herself it’s not about her. Her friend Aria is being bullied by the biggest doofus in the school and it’s up to Hero and Jaz to help him. Aria can’t talk, at least he doesn’t talk at school and that means there’s a lot Hero doesn’t know about him yet. Aria’s past is a part of the reason. He arrived in Australia having lost so much. There’s nothing Hero can do to change the past but maybe together they can all conquer the future. Join me as we discover Maryam Master’s No Words... Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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I have been having a tremendous amount of fun with my reading lately. It’s a necessary evil of what I do that there’s often more than one book on the go and while this presents some challenges in keeping it all straight in my head, it also means that I can lean into the book that most fits my mood on the day. Today I’m going rom-com because after finally seeing a bit of sun over the weekend it’s looking like the rain and cold might be setting in again. And so what better to remind us that despite the rain there’ll be sun again than a genre that always has the sun come out at the end. Nina Kenwood’s Unnecessary Drama is the exact right balance of the aforementioned drama and dappled sunshine to see me through till the next five minutes of spring. As Brooke arrives in Melbourne and into her first share house she is ready for life. She’s planned for every eventuality and has a list to back up her plan in case the worst still happens. Best of all she’s hours away from her hometown and everyone who knows she’s the sensible, listmaking girl. Even better, she's a whole world away from her old life and THE event that defined her whole life in high school. Yep, Brooke is really going to make something of her new life. That is until she meets her new housemate Jesse and suddenly high school comes rushing back to find her. I don’t think Unnecessary Drama is trying to hide its intentions when it throws Brooke and Jesse together in the same share house. In fact I know it’s not trying to hide it as we are privy to Brooke’s cripplingly anxious POV as she tries to navigate this seeming;y impossible situation. Instead Unnecessary Drama does what it says on the box, or more appropriately it challenges the notion of the aforementioned unnecessary drama. The title comes from one of the few and ill defined house rules that Brooke, Jesse and Harper live by: no pets, no house romance, and no unnecessary drama. The idea of unnecessary drama is so loose that it sends Brooke spiraling wondering at how she might break it while at the same time we learn about Jesse’s past misdeeds and it left me wondering if Brooke’s drama might be necessary after all. Unnecessary Drama is full of people and behaviors that are really not ok. More than the bad behaviors is the quiet acceptance that allows them to flourish. In Brooke we meet a character who is simultaneously loving and cripplingly anxious. She wants so much to care for others that she blinds herself to what she actually needs (and ends up putting up with a lot of shit along the way). Brooke’s so afraid of unnecessary drama that she avoids all drama and really a little bit of drama would do her the world of good. So as readers we’re left to wonder; if rom-com conventions tell us that Brooke and Jesse will be thrust together how can we overcome our distaste at Jesse’s misdeeds? What is acceptable behavior? What is forgivable? It’s really terrific to explore these behaviors and as we watch the inevitable love mishaps question whether the outcome we think we want is the right one. The phrase Know Your Worth is absolutely relevant here and I’m not sure how much we’re spinning Lizzo here on 2ser but I reckon Brooke could do with rinsing 2Be Loved until she takes that message to heart. I’m going to say stuff the weather and prescribe Nina Kenwood’s Unnecessary Drama for everyone’s weekends, whether it’s reading on the beach or under the doona in the cold November rain.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Holden Sheppard’s debut novel Invisible Boys was an absolute sensation and today he’s joining us with his new novel The Brink. School’s out and Perth’s leavers are descending on the coast. Leonardo doesn’t love that he’s found himself in the back of Jared’s 4WD. They haven’t been friends since high school started but since Leonardo’s so-called friends ditched on him he hasn’t got much choice. So now he’s stuck with Jared, Mason, Valentina and just about every other person who made his life hell at high school When their holiday accommodation decides to turn Leavers away, the group are in search of a new place to party. The Brink is an isolated community, famous for its insularity and not known for welcoming outsiders. When Ryan gets them in with a guy called Machete Max, who rents them some cabins, it all seems too good to be true; a week on Brink Island. No adults, no rules, no consequences. But you know what they say about things that are too good to be true… And there are always consequences. Join me as we discover Holden Sheppard’s The Brink... Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Angela Meyer is an author, book industry professional and teacher of writing and publishing. Her debut novel A Superior Specter was met with critical acclaim garnering a slew of prize shortlists including the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Now if you haven’t discovered Angela’s writing yet, let me tell you she has an incredible power to write incredibly human stories that explore the fantastic within our world and challenge what it means to live …and let’s face it, the world these days feel like we live on constantly shifting sands, so feeling connected through stories is a powerful thing
In Moon Sugar… Mila was mourning the life she thought she’d have; house, family, the whole suburban dream, when Josh arrived to shake up her world. Josh has this way of transfixing everyone he meets. Good look and with an easy manner that invites you to open up. Mila meets Josh through SugarMeetMe and though their relationship begins in a financial transaction it opens up into something so much more. Together they explore art and music and take part in a clandestine study to make some extra money. Kyle is Josh’s best friend and he understands how special that makes him. Sure he often feels like a sidekick but because of Josh he’s growing, getting ready to explore the world. When Josh goes missing in Europe Mila follows him to try and uncover what has happened and what she has lost. There she meets Kyle, and together the two follow in Josh’s footsteps and try to make sense of his final days…
Moon Sugar takes an exploded view of our world and seeks to understand the ways we are all connected. In the central relationship between Mila and Josh we are shown a seemingly incongruous relationship of love and respect. Mila seeks out a companion after the breakdown of a relationship. She has come to realize how much she had given over to her partner and what that has meant for her understanding of herself and what she finds pleasurable. Josh is an escort and a sex worker who seeks to honour the people who seek out his companionship. As Mila and Josh come together they explore what it means to be damaged by our experiences but also how we can heal. We see that people can open themselves up and provide space for others. You’ll see descriptors like genre defying or genre bending associated with Angela Meyer’s work and I have to acknowledge that there is a hole in my description of Moon Sugar. Meyer explores human connectedness through the triangle of Mila, Josh and Kyle but she accelerates this, taking it to new levels and understandings. I don’t want to give away spoilers here but just imagine if our digital world could truly live up to its promise of world wide connectivity. If instead of just viewing a glimpse of all those lives we could come to understand each other a little better. Of course that sort of power of connection would not go unnoticed. Powerful forces would seek to control it, and there’s still the central tension of Josh’s disappearance to unravel. Moon Sugar is a beautiful expansive novel of love, both for others and ourselves, that melds the corporeal with the fantastic in a way we should all hope to discover.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Tom Taylor is an award-winning author who has written for Suicide Squad, Spider-Man and X-Men. Jon Sommariva is the artist for such bestselling comics as Batman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, and the Avengers. Neverlanders introduces the reader to a group of homeless kids, the Lost Ones, who are about to have their whole world change when they meet Paco. The Lost Ones are canny and self reliant, they can look after themselves but there’s no sense that their lives are moving forward. Paco wants to offer them a deal; a world just for them, a place where they can thrive. But it’s a world under threat and the Lost Ones will have to learn pretty quickly whether have what it takes to save it… Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Today I have brought in something evocative and troubling. A novel that exposes the wounds of the past and reminds us these scars are only ever held just below the surface. Eliza Henry-Jones’ Salt and Skin Luda has arrived with her children Darcy and Min, to the storm-bruised islands of northern Scotland. The family have fled Australia in a storm of grief and recrimination seeking to find a new home and purpose to their lives. Luda, a photographer, has been employed to document the impacts climate change is having on the islands. She almost immediately alienates herself from the local community when she publishes a photograph depicting a family's unimaginable tragedy in a landslide accident. Settling on the tidal island of Seanney the family are fascinated to discover an ancient history of witchcraft and religious intolerance. The island was supposedly home to witches and it’s said that in the evening light scars are revealed to those who have known tragedy in their life. The darker history of the islands is almost too close to the surface they realise, as they come to know the foundling Theo who was washed ashore as a child and whom the locals believe to be a selkie. Theo also exists both in and outside the community and must navigate acceptance as one who does not truly seem to fit in. I was absolutely transfixed by the narrative of Salt and Skin. I love it when my reading leads me to one of those reading cliche moments and I’m pleased to be able to say that as I finished the final page of Salt and Skin I found myself turning back and then flicking forward, scarcely believing that the book was at an end. Always leave them wanting more is a showbiz adage and ELiza Henry-Jones succeeded in keeping me and then leaving me hanging on the last page. Is it a satisfying review if I acknowledge that there may in fact be too much to discuss about Salt and Skin? I could highlight the themes of environmental decay and destruction, of violence against women, the constant tension between rural communitiers and the modernism that both threatens and offers them a lifeline. I could start there and still only be scratching the surface. In Luda, Min and Darcy we have a satisfying trio of protagonists who then fracture into their own plotlines that twist and turn back onto each other. The family do what they can to settle into their new home and in their varying degrees of success the story moves forward and drags us backwards into the near and distant past. Salt and Skin is a novel that deals with the supernatural, or perhaps more correctly the unexplained in our lives. And while this may be a theme that borders on the genre specific, Salt and Skin is satisfyingly oblique in its dealings with the topics of witches and ghosts that seem to occupy the millenia old landscape of the islands. The narrative weaves centuries old stories of witches with the experience of Luda becoming a pariah before she even begins in the town. We see that the women of the islands have always done what they could to survive and live and protect what they have. It brings forward an uncomfortable truth that fitting in may be very different to doing what is right and that neither may matter when there are stronger forces at work. Salt and Skin is a story about place and while its action occurs on remote islands a world away from our lives in Australia, it is also firmly grounded in our experience of the dislocation of environmental tragedy. Through the evolving stories of Luda, Min, Darcy and Theo we see our own connections and must confront that we don’t live apart from our world but are in fact there in it, even as it crumbles beneath us.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. For nearly thirty years Final Draft has found its home at 2ser 107.3. 2ser is a Community Radio Station broadcasting from Sydney, Australia. 2ser was born in October 1979 as a community voice and disruptor of the dominate voices in the Sydney media scene. For more than forty years 2ser has been a voice for Sydney, representing the many communities who don't always get to hear themselves in the mainstream. Every October 2ser celebrates its birthday with Radiothon, an opportunity to thank our listeners and invite them to become a part of our family. Today's special bonus episode is a little look at the history of 2ser and a big Happy Birthday for Radiothon. Research and references from today's episode come from 2ser's 46 Boxes of Stuff - An Incomplete History of Community Radio from Liz Giuffre and Demetrius Romeo.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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This week on book club we're helping you with your school holiday fun with some reading recommendations and a fantastic exhibition to share the love of reading with young and old. Titles Mention in this Episode What to Say When You Don't Know What to Say by Davina Bell and Hilary Jean Tapper The Imagineer by Christopher Cheng, Illustrated by Lucia Masciullo Baby Business by Jasmine Seymour When We Say Black Lives Matter llustrated and written by Maxine Beneba Clarke Macca the Alpaca illustrated and written by Matt Cosgrove ...and many more Imagine... the Wonder of Picture Books This celebration of children’s literature brings to life stories and characters from much-loved Australian picture books. Where: Exhibition Galleries, State Library of New South Wales When: Daily 9am till 8pm Admission: FREE You can get more books, writing and literary culture every week on the Final Draft Great Conversations podcast. Hear interviews with authors and discover your next favourite read! Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Jack Gow is a writer and comedian based in Sydney, who has sold out, critically acclaimed shows across the country. You might have caught Jack’s stories on Radio National, the Story Club podcast, and FBi Radio’s All the Best. Jack is also co-director of NYWF and is joining us with the inside scoop on the festival. The National Young Writers’ Festival is an annual gathering of young writers. A place for them to showcase their work, share ideas, and learn. 2022 sees NYWF as a hybrid festival, with both in person and online events. Festival programs are free, and made by and for young writers who create across stage, page, web and beyond. Check out the National Young Writers Festival online and plan your festival.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Children’s books are a portal into ideas and imagination and when you read them with the little ones in your life you are supporting their developing language and cognitive skills, their sense of wonder and their critical thinking. Today I’ve got the latest from Jasmine Seymour, Open Your Heart to Country. Jasmine Seymour is a Dharug woman. She is a language teacher and language activist, whose work is reawakening the Dharug language and this is so prominent in her writing. She is the author of children’s books Baby Business and Cooee Mittigar. Open Your Heart to Country is her latest and it is a visual and linguistic feast for the senses. All of Jasmine Seymour’s books for children feature both Dharug and English language. There are more than 250 Indigenous languages on this continent. The area across which 2ser broadcasts includes the traditional lands of the Dharug people and we actively try to acknowledge and pay respect to the custodians of that land. But I often find myself wondering what it means to acknowledge and pay respect. It’s a great set of words to utter but how can we pay that respect everyday? Open Your Heart to Country (and all of Jasmine’s books) offer young readers the chance to discover ideas and language of the Dharug people. Many children of preschool age learn aspects of local culture and language in their schools. Warami is a Dharug greeting that children learn as part of their everyday. In Open Your Heart to Country Jasmine Seymour invites readers that “by reading the Dharug words told with their own English translations you will hear this story with Dharug Ears”. The book is also an explosion of colour and light that is guaranteed to excite young minds to discover things in their local area.Each page brims with a kaleidoscope of animals and landscapes depicting Dharug land. This is a book to be shared and through sharing, enriching the minds of readers young and old alike. Learning a second language has so many proven benefits, from supporting listening skills, memory and concentration. Second language skills also support problem solving skills and critical thinking. Our brains just kinda grow when we engage with other languages! But it isn’t just about what it does for us. Sharing Open Your Heart to Country with young readers in your life introduces them to the land they live on. It tells them that it is someone’s land and begins the stories that have been denied in this country. Most importantly though, it is an opportunity to share in these stories and understand Dharug culture. An invitation to practice the acknowledgement and respect and make it a part of their developing lives.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Shirley Marr is a first-generation Chinese Australian author of young adult and children's fiction, including YA novels Fury and Preloved, and children’s novels Little Jiang, A Glasshouse of Stars. In Singapore Peijing understood how everything worked; her Ba-Ba worked hard seven days a week, her Ma-MA worked to raise the family and her Ah-Ma worked at making delicious mooncakes. Peijing and her little sister Biju worked at creating their little world and populating it with animals both real and mythological, and telling fantastic stories about the animals' lives. In Australia things seem upside down to say the least. Ba-Ba now goes to work for only five days and is wearing a polo shirt. Ma-Ma needs Peijing to translate and is not happy that she is not allowed to bring her daughters lunch at school. And Ah-Ma seems confused and is always asking Peijing her name. Peijing must be strong and honorable for her family but that is not always easy when everything is so new. Join me as we discover Shirley Marr’s All Four Quarters of the Moon... Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. CBCA Winner Andrea Rowe joins us to discuss her book Jetty Jumping, winner of the Early Childhood Prize at the Children's Book Council Awards. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Today I have got something truly unique; thought provoking, puzzling, laugh out loud funny. Siang Lu’s The Whitewash might just be the whole package Brood Empire was meant to be a landmark for Asian representation in Hollywood. With a $350 million budget and a lead who looked like he'd been carved from stone this would be THE film that broke through and put all the subtle and overt racist stereotypes to bed. Instead production was dogged from the start, the lead got pulped in an ill advised cage fight and the whole set leaked worse than Tom Holland on a bender. The Whitewash is the unofficial history of the rise and fall of Brood Empire detailing not only the film’s unseemly demise but its origins in the anals of racist representation of Asia and Asians throughout 20th century filmmaking. ------- The Whitewash is told in a documentary style lead by the team at Click Bae - and online gossip rag that specializes in entertainment news and celebrity gossip of the most salacious kind. Click Bae have secured exclusive access to JK Jr, the superhero physiqued Hong Kong actor who has been cast in the leading role in Brood Empire. The film itself is an adaptation of the cult novels of Yu Guan featuring his secret agent Brando X - a Chinese James Bond who inverts all the tropes fighting a white supervillain seekins to subjugate the eastern world. About now I feel the need to acknowledge that I am not much of a cinephile and there were definitely moments in The Whitewash were fiction and reality blurred in a way that I couldn’t separate. Because this is film history with an incredible alternative narrative inserted in ways that blur reality. As the title suggests, The Whitewash explores the ways that White Culture (in this case cinema) has a tendency to pick, choose and bleach aspects of other cultures for its own entertainment and edification. Alongside the fly on the wall access to the development of Brood Empire we are treated to a whistle stop history of Asian representation in Hollywood; from its inception in villainous caricatures through to the edification of martial arts as the savior of the blockbuster. The Whitewash is very aware of its source material and does not miss a trick in satirizing the film industry, the media-industrial complex, cults of celebrity and even all of us if we are foolish enough to uncritically consume what is dished up to us across multi-media platforms. The broad thrust of the plot is the rise and fall of the film Brood Empire, as it seeks to break free of the Hollywood stereotypes only to fall victim to the machine. This is a gross oversimplification though, as the reader is treated to a deviously woven narrative consisting of an ensemble cast you’ll play book to keep track of. I truly loved The Whitewash for its irreverent take on the entertainment industry that was knowing but also incisive in its critique. The book shows us an industry known for its exploitation and opens up our eyes to just how much goes on behind the scenes. And if a terrific story wasn’t enough, The Whitewash is accompanied by a companion website The Beige Index https://thebeigeindex.com/film/tt1745960
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Vikki Petraitis is a writer, presenter, teacher and podcaster. She is well known for her true crime writing and today she is joining me with a new book, The Unbelieved.The Unbelieved is fiction but it is so uncomfortably close to real life, it could be ripped from the headlines. A woman stumbles out of a bar, unsteady on her feet. A man has followed her out but as he grabs at her it’s clear he’s not there help… A string of drink spiking incidents in bars around Deception Bay points to a serial rapist. So why isn’t anyone joining the dots? Detective sergeant Antigone Pollard has seen this before. It’s the case that drove her out of Melbourne. Can she take on the system that says it’s all a bit of fun and boys will be boys? Can she help the women of Deception Bay protect themselves? Join me as we discover Vikki Petraitis’s The Unbelieved... Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Paul Daley is a Walkley Award winning journalist, author and essayist. He writes the feature Postcolonial for the Guardian, which explores Australia’s national identity. Jesustown is clearly an extension of this conversation. The novel offers up a compelling narrative that forces a lens up to colonial and contemporary attitudes towards First Nations Peoples. Spanning generation, the novel hones in on Patrick Renmark. Patrick has landed in the remote former mission of Jesustown, a broken man. Now pushing fifty, Patrick has not returned to Jesustown since his humiliating withdrawal as a teenager. Then he was fleeing the aggressive whip of his grandfather Nathaniel “Rennie” Renmark. Renny is famous, or notorious for saving The People. In the novel The People are the custodians of the land around Jesustown, and stand in for Indigenous peoples across the land. Renny’s shadow is everywhere in Jesustown and hovers most distinctly wherever Patrick stands. As he seeks to discovering who Rennie truly was underneath all the myths, Patrick finds that Rennie’s hubris is perhaps his most enduring legacy. Jesustown began for Paul Daley in a museum storage room in Adelaide. On viewing a cache of human remains belonging to First Nations Peoples he was moved to pen a narrative that centered the struggle to have remains and relics returned to their rightful owners. The novel displays no great love for the so called explorers and pioneers that moved into what we now call Australia and plundered everything that could be carried away. Nor does it look favorably on those who came after to chronicle what they believed to be the dying days of people who had been systematically targeted for extinction by the invading colony. In this light we can view Renny’s tale as a sort of pleading with history. Fiercely protective of his legacy Renny denied anyone the opportunity to tell his story. Now as his archive stands empty his successor Patrick arrives in Jesustown the victim of his own hubris. Patrick has allowed his own mythologising tendencies to blind him and in doing so he has destroyed his own life. Jesustown is both the last place he wants to be and the only place that will have him. Jesustown is a striking novel for its singularly ugly figures of Renny and Patrick. Traveling alongside them we are left to assume that if the telling of Australia's national myth is left to them, then we are not much chop. Patrick is a so-called story-ist, a philosophy or style peculiar to the book but which might best be summed up as ‘never let the truth get in the way of a good story’. Patrick has storified everything he touches but finds he cannot do the same to Renny’s legacy because it seems it has always had a touch of the fantastical. Traveling with these professionally unreliable narrators invites the reader to think about their own attitudes and approach to history. Here we see the subjective nature of records and the flagrant self-interest of the parties who want to come out on top. We are asked to consider this story of discovery and adventure that leaves out the murder and subjagation of those inconveniently in the way. Jesustown is a fascinating examination of colonial legacy and contemporary responsibility. It holds a light up to the crimes of the past and leaves the reader in no doubt that there is much to recompense. Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser. Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading! Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are.
Yasmin Abdel Magied is an engineer who has run oil and gas rigs, a formula one mechanic, a social advocate and a writer, novelist and public intellectual. Her new book Talking About a Revolution collects essays, writings and speeches from the past ten years.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
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Today I am finally bringing in for you, Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library. I don’t often bring in mystery fiction, because, well frankly if you want mysteries there are much better qualified people here at 2ser to talk to (more on them later). As we get started though, know that this isn’t your typical book club. I haven’t finished the book yet for one (again more later) and two, because Sulari is something of a master of metafiction. I want today’s book club to get a little meta… Every week I begin my show Final Draft with a little riff on how great a privilege it is to read and speak with incredible Australian authors. It is. But often it also means I am mired in tough, challenging topics. That’s the power of literature that we get to go into these spaces and find out about our world from the comfort of our armchairs. Every now and then though I carve out a little bit of time for something that will just energise me, and sure that book might involve a gruesome murder but as Flex and Herds over on Death of the Reader would point out, there’s a reason it’s called cosy crime. Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library takes us into the fictional world of Hannah Tigone, bestselling Australian crime writer. And Hannah Tigone takes us into the fictional world of Winifred Kincaid, Australian writer in residence in Boston, working hard to plot out her new novel. Winifred is in the Boston Public Library when a blood curdling scream throws her into the path of Cain, Whit and Marigold and together they form a bond that just might throw them into the path of a killer. Hannah is meanwhile crafting Winifred’s story in correspondence with Leo, a super fan of dubious social acumen. Keeping up so far? Sulari’s whodunnits are delightful riffs on crime conventions and an absolute blast to try and figure out. They take us into the world of the writer and often blur (or perhaps I should say cross) the lines between where the story ends and reality begins. And this is where we get a little meta. Because our book club is diving into another book club of sorts… Because whilst the Poirots and Holmes of the world seem to work best alone, where would they be without their Watsons (or Hastings). Now if only I had a dedicated Scooby Gang to help me unravel the mystery! But in a way I do!! Flex and Herds broadcast on 2ser every Sunday evening as Death of the Reader. Each week they take you on a world wide murder mystery tour, breaking down incredible whodunnits over three episodes so you can read along and try to solve the mystery with them. I’m reading The Woman in the Library alongside Flex and Herds, following on through the Death of the Reader podcast. It’s like having two good friends arguing over the top of you as you wonder naively if perhaps the butler might have done it after all. So far I’m a third of the way through The Woman in the Library and I don’t have a strong suspect. I’m not even sure if the murder we think we are solving is the real killing, such are Sulari’s twists and turns. My running theory is that there is some slight of hand at play and it all relates to the way we are told the story through this strange email correspondence. My lack of clear direction is nothing to worry about though as Herds has some theories of his own. I quite like the organised crime angle even though I don’t know if the text supports it. Meanwhile Flex is beguiling us with clever misdirection. So today on our book club I want to recommend Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library but I strongly suggest you listen along with Flex and Herds and tune in to Death of the Reader every Sunday night from 9am.
Discover Death of the Reader on 2ser 107.3
Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople<
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Things We Bury transports the reader to the town of Pent, where Matthew offers up a portrait of life in a regional town through his central family, the Hardings.It’s a sad fact that tragedy brings us together.Dane, Jac, and Josh don’t get together as much as they should. Spread out across the country; Jac in Sydney, Josh all over the country as his TV work takes him and Dane, who never left Pent. It just never seems like there’s enough time.Now the siblings must converge on their hometown after their father is in a car accident that leaves him in a coma.It’s not just the accident. Each of the siblings has their own drama eating away at their peace. The reunion isn’t destined to go smoothly. Pent is no longer the same town they grew up in, but the ghosts of the past still rest there.While their father remains in a coma, questions emerge that have them wondering if there is more to his accident that they first assumed. What had been happening in their dad’s life that could lead him to do something desperate?Join me as we discover Matthew Ryan Davies’s Things We Bury...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Today I’ve brought in a delightful and thought provoking novel for younger readers. All Four Quarters of the Moon is from Shirley Marr. Shirley is a first-generation Chinese Australian author of young adult and children's fiction, including YA novels Fury and Preloved, and children’s novels Little Jiang, A Glasshouse of Stars. All Four Quarters of the Moon is her new novel and it takes us into the world of Peijing as she and her family prepare to migrate to Australia for her father’s work.In Singapore Peijing understood how everything worked; her Ba-Ba worked hard seven days a week, her Ma-MA worked to raise the family and her Ah-Ma worked at making delicious mooncakes. Peijing and her little sister Biju worked at creating their little world and populating it with animals both real and mythological, and telling fantastic stories about the animals' lives.In Australia things seem upside down to say the least. Ba-Ba now goes to work for only five days and is wearing a polo shirt. Ma-Ma needs Peijing to translate and is not happy that she is not allowed to bring her daughters lunch at school. And Ah-Ma seems confused and is always asking Peijing her name. Peijing must be strong and honourable for her family but that is not always easy when everything is so new.All Four Quarters of the Moon is told alternately through Peijing’s first person narration and vignettes of Peijing and Biju telling each other tales of mythology and their little world.Through Peijing’s eyes we are treated to an exploration of Australia as a new world that contains strange and wonderful potential as well as claustrophobic prejudice and intolerance.We see that even at a young age Peijing feels the responsibility of looking after her family as a kind of linchpin between their family home and the new home they are building in Australia.Peijing’s story helps the reader understand the responsibilities that fall to children of migrants. Peijing becomes a translator for her family in both the practical sense of translating language across a range of social interactions but also translating culture. Peijing finds herself torn between her parents' desire that they observe and respect home culture and wanting to fit in with her new school environment. When her mother arrives for school lunch with baskets of delicious cooked foods, Peijing finds herself longing for simple sandwiches.The world between home and school becomes something of a minefield that Peijing must navigate. As her mother struggles to adjust to their new home, Peijing tries to strike a balance introducing new ideas into their lives. Food, friends and study are all potentially fraught as Ma-Ma tries to hold on to the life she has always known.As family members experience racism, both casual and overt, Peijing works to soften the blows of language hurled against them.When Peijing finds a friend at school she comes to understand that the intolerance she faces is not reserved for her being from another country. He new friend Joanna suffers similarly at the hands of other children because her family is poor and Joanna does not always have new clothes.All Four Quarters of the Moon offers up a spell-binding tale of love and resilience in the face of world defining change. Peijing is at times heart-breaking in her efforts to always be the backbone of her family despite her tender years. She’s a truly wonderful heroine searching for a magical world where she can be as creative as her mind tells her she can be.This is a book geared at middle grade readers, the group aged between 9-13 years old and it deftly explores transition, a topic so fresh for children whether it is changing countries or moving between primary and high school. It’s also a story that holds a mirror up to Australia’s notions of acceptance and intolerance and challenges our accepting, laid back mindset. In Peijing we see a protagonist with more capacity for openness and acceptance than many she meets.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Georgina Young’s debut novel Loner won the Text Prize for Young Adult novels, was commended by the CBCA as a notable book for older readers, and was shortlisted for a Prime Minister’s Literary Award.Now Georgina is back with her new novel Bootstrap and she’s joining us today on the podcast.Ginsborough’s famous for its chicken and leek pies and not much else. Down the road in Koornang all they’ve got is Al’s Takeaway and Jackson Sweeney is doing his best to sour that reputation.Sweeney’s not languishing in Koornang per se. Languishing sounds way more active than what Sweeney is doing. With nothing but Hooley Dooley’s on a Friday to look forward to (and Sweeney’s pashed most of the available blokes there) life is looking dire.That is until a tall, dark and very out of place bloke named Bootstrap splits into Sweeney’s life saying he’s come to see the night that Sweeney becomes a hero!Join me as we discover Georgina Young’s Bootstrap...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
James O'Loghlin is a comedian, television and radio host. You might know him from shows such as The New Inventors but James is also the author of ten books, including six novels for children.James was also a lawyer in a former life and his segued that experience into his new novel, our book club for this week, Criminals.It seems like just another ordinary day...Sarah is doing bar work at the club. A nice normal job while she’s on stress leaving from her job as a cop. She’s tending bar when a man walks into the club with a shotgun.Mary is just trying to enjoy a quiet drink. She’s always enjoying a quiet drink and doesn’t appreciate the loud man in the balaklava interrupting her reverie. Daydrinking isn’t exactly a long term plan and so Mary decides to do something foolish.And poor Dean. He can’t understand why everybody won’t just get down on the ground and give him the money. He needs this and one big score could set him up for a while.In one brief flurry of activity Criminals throws Sarah, Dean and Mary’s lives together and sets them on a path to explore what it means to be a criminal and how life is more than simply a matter of Black and White.Through each of his main characters James O’Loghlin explores some fundamental ideas about crime and criminality.Sarah has always wanted to be a cop. Her single dad is her idol. A lifetime police officer she has looked up to him and all he represents. But Sarah’s also been disillusioned by her time on the force and is starting to wonder if following the letter of the law is the best way to understand people.Dean went to school with Sarah. It’s an uncomfortable fact as he holds a shotgun in her direction but it also gets him thinking; he wasn’t always a junkie burglar waiting to graduate to armed robbery.At school Dean was a footy star, but he relied on making it to first grade and when that didn’t happen he was lost. Drugs and petty crime helped Dean escape until they became the thing he has to escape from. Is it possible though that there is more to his life, and can he choose a different path before it’s too late.Mary seems to have it all a middle class suburban life can offer. So why does she stand in front of the shotgun, daring the man in front of her. Mary’s struggling to make sense of her life and is starting to think that these men robbing the club with such abandon know more about how to live and maybe she could borrow a leaf from their book.Criminals follows this small ensemble cast through the aftermath of the robbery and into their lives, such as they are. Questions of right and wrong loom large in each of their pasts and O’Loghlin challenges us to sort through our ideas of crime and criminality to understand how we live when these categories are not so clear cut.The novel explores mental health and the ways it can shape, even steer lives and the consequences of not getting help. It’s a surprisingly nuanced look at a heavily scrutinized area and while no one book could pretend to have an answer, Criminals shows us that the conversation is essential and one we all must have.Criminals is pacy and finds a balance between its action and the introspection of its protagonists. While each are, perhaps miles from the lived experience of the reader, the novel brings us into their lives and makes us appreciate they are more than their apparent stereotype might reveal.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
WARNING SPOILERSThis part of our conversation with Claire contains spoilers for Enclave. Definitely don't tune in until you've read Enclave!What are you waiting for? Go get a copy now!Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar writer, from Western Australia, now based in Naarm. Claire’s debut novel is the award winning Terra Nullius. She is the author of the novel The Old Lie and Lies Damned Lies, an historical and cultural exploration of the ongoing impact of colonial invasion. Claire’s third novel, is Enclave.In this special bonus of outtakes from the Enclave interview Claire talks about inspirations for the story, famous fans and the potential for her work to be adapted.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar writer, from Western Australia, now based in Naarm. Claire’s debut novel is the award winning Terra Nullius. She is the author of the novel The Old Lie and Lies Damned Lies, an historical and cultural exploration of the ongoing impact of colonial invasion. Claire’s third novel, is Enclave.Enclave takes us to the community of Safetown. There residents live a comfortable life, secure in the knowledge they are protected by ‘the wall’. Within that concrete edifice security patrol their streets and drones surveil the airway to ensure even the smallest transgression is met with swift consequences.Christine has spent her entire life basking in the comfort her fathers wealth and Safetown’s security provide the daughter of an influential family. Sure her father is a distant figure, her mother a high functioning alcoholic, but they’ve just bought her an apartment and extended her a line of seeming unlimited credit.Safetown was built to protect families like Christine and she should be happy with this safety. Except her best friend Jack is missing and Christine has begun to notice her servants, people who don’t look quite like her…Join as we discover Claire G Coleman’s Enclave.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Today I wanted to indulge us with some fun, thoughtful, edge of your seat, literary sci-fi. Now that may seem like I’ve just thrown a whole lot of adjectives at the wall to see what sticks (and in a way I have) but stay with me, I think I’m justified…Georgina Young’s debut novel Loner won the Text Prize for Young Adult novel, was commended by the CBCA as a notable book for older readers, and was shortlisted for a Prime Minister’s Literary Award.Now Georgina is back with her new novel Bootstrap and it is all the adjectives I mentioned above and more.Ginsborough’s famous for its chicken and leek pies and not much else. Down the road in Koornang all they’ve got is Al’s Takeaway and Jackson Sweeney is doing his best to sour that reputation.Sweeney’s not languishing in Koornang per se. Languishing sounds way more active than what Sweeney is doing. With nothing but Hooley Dooley’s on a Friday to look forward to (and Sweeney’s pashed most of the available blokes there) life is looking dire.That is until a tall, dark and very out of place bloke named Bootstrap splits into Sweeney’s life saying he’s come to see the night that Sweeney becomes a hero!Now I could tell you that Bootstrap is full of the most outlandish cast of characters you’ve met in a long time…I could tell you that the book has more twists than the highway out of Ginsborough…I could mention that this is a refreshing take on the sci-fi staple of messing with your own timeline…All of that would be true but it still wouldn’t capture the enormous heart that Georgina Young has infused into the most unlikable, lovable rogue that is Sweeney and the strange and beguiling figure of Bootstrap.Sweeney feels trapped in Koornang and that’s the central dramatic tension of the novel. He feels like nothing will ever happen to him and little changes when the entirety of the space time continuum seems to come crashing onto his doorstep.In a lot of ways Sweeney is all of us when we are feeling the FOMO and getting down on our lives. In a much more real way he is a young gay man who is languishing in a town that doesn’t have enough to offer him and is actively trying to such the life out of him.The arrival of his best friend Marnie and the enigmatic Bootstrap are still not enough to shake Sweeney’s stupor. He sees one as an excuse to get drunk and the other as a quick pash when he gets there. Marnie’s on her own journey into the doldrums and can’t quite seem to shake her own tendency to plant her food in her mouth. These are not the heroes we need but then again Bootstrap may not deserve saving…I loved Bootstrap as much for its high octane adventuring as for its parodying small town charm (or was it desperation? Sweeney is really unsure about his nostalgia) In highlighting that regional Australia is a tough place to grow up it also shows us a world where every corner holds a memory. It’s all in stark contrast to the figure of Bootstrap who is a fugitive from his own past.There’s an incredibly clever and thoughtful crop of mind bending speculative and science fiction popping up in Australia lately and I am here for it. Georgina Young’s Bootstrap is so grounded as to defy the notion that it literally opens up a whole new world of timey wimey adventuring for readers…Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Lauren Draper is a writer and marketing professional from Melbourne, her writing has appeared in publications such as Kill Your Darlings and Dumbo Feather.Lauren joins Andrew on the show with her debut young adult novel, The Museum of Broken Things.Reece is in limbo, and as far as it goes there are worse places to be stuck than the beachside town of Hamilton. But it’s not just the place Reece is stuck in her memories. Memories of The Terrible Thing Happened and the way it has basically put her life on hold.Maybe she can ride out the last year of school, but fate and a resident shark named Bruce are determined to throw her in the way of Gideon and there’s a whole other set of secrets.Join me as we discover Lauren Draper’s The Museum of Broken Things...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/Find Lauren Draper at laurendraperauthor.com
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Frank Moorhouse was an author, journalist and essayist. He is best known for his Edith Trilogy chronicling the life of Edith Campbell Berry and her time as a diplomat around the formation of the League of Nations. Frank was a terrific chronicler and interrogator of Australia and our way of life.Frank died last week at the age of 83. This episode features a conversation with Frank from 2017 where he discussed his essay on the writers life.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Matthew Ryan Davies is the author of the young adult novel This Thing of Darkness, which was highly commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. Today I’ve brought in his debut adult novel Things We Bury.Transporting us to the town of Pent, Matt offers up a portrait of life in a regional town through his central family, the Hardings.It’s a sad fact that tragedy brings us together.Dane, Jac, and Josh don’t get together as much as they should. Spread out across the country; Jac in Sydney, Josh all over the country as his TV work takes him and Dane, who never left Pent. It just never seems like there’s enough time.Now the siblings must converge on their hometown after their father is in a car accident that leaves him in a coma.It’s not just the accident. Each of the siblings has their own drama eating away at their peace. The reunion isn’t destined to go smoothly. Pent is no longer the same town they grew up in, but the ghosts of the past still rest there.While their father remains in a coma, questions emerge that have them wondering if there is more to his accident that they first assumed. What had been happening in their dad’s life that could lead him to do something desperate?Things We Bury blends suspense and mystery with character driven storytelling.It’s instantly relatable because no matter how wonderful or fraught your own family relationships we have all of us had to negotiate family dynamics that seem to shift underneath us as we grow.Josh’s return to Pent is wrapped in scandal. He left the town and changed his name to become someone in entertainment. Now having realized his dream he is dogged by an incident that has blown up on social media and left him hiding his face beneath a baseball cap.Jac has returned with a surprise. She’s engaged, but doubting herself, and the person she’d most like to tell is lying in a coma. Jac was always their father’s favourite, which makes it harder to deal with the possibility he did this to himself.Dean has had to step up in his dad’s absence and is questioning more than ever the path he chose. Can he really ignore his own dreams any longer to run their father’s company.In each of the siblings stories and in the hovering questions around their father’s crash we have the specter of mental health that too often gets ignored, especially amongst men.The title Things We Bury hints at secrets and these drive the narrative forward but also remind us of the difficulties we can face when we feel like we have to go it alone.Through the shifting perspectives, as each chapter moves through a different character point of view, we see the siblings' struggles and also hear as they question what might have been on their father’s mind. Together they question how he was feeling and come up against the usual suspects of stoicism and a fear of seeming weak in front of others.While the central mystery of why drives the siblings to try and uncover their father’s state of mind we are also offered parallel narratives of their own struggles. It’s an effective and expansive look at the fact that mental health is a concern we all share and that we deal with it best when we deal with it together.Things We Bury is a page turner that offers us valuable insights. I went in looking at the mystery and found I was most gripped by the personal stories of each of the Harding family…7Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.In the next instalment of our irregular, ongoing series featuring incredible book podcasts Andrew is joined by Kate Mildenhall & Katherine Collette from The First Time.The First Time is a podcast about publishing a book for the first time. Kate and Katherine describe The First Time as one part reality show, one part writers’ master class, featuring Australian writers and industry insiders, exploring the logistics of publishing a debut.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar writer, from Western Australia, now based in Naarm. Claire’s debut novel is the award winning Terra Nullius as well as the author of The Old Lie and the acclaimed non-fiction book, Lies Damned Lies. Calire’s third novel, the one I want to talk about today is Enclave.In the community of Safetown residents live a comfortable life, secure in the knowledge they are protected by the wall. Within that concrete edifice security patrol their streets and drones surveil the airway to ensure even the smallest transgression is met with swift consequences.Christine has spent her entire life basking in the comfort her fathers wealth and Safetown’s security provide the daughter of an influential family. Sure her father is a distant figure, her mother a high functioning alcoholic, but they’ve just bought her an apartment and extended her a line of seeming unlimited credit.Safetown was built to protect families like Christine and she should be happy with this safety. Except her best friend Jack is missing and Christine has begun to notice her servants, people who don’t look quite like her…I think the potency of Enclave will hit readers in different ways.On a first pass, Enclave seems to have taken the worst of the days headlines: Trump’s wall, fake islands in the South China Sea, almost sentient algorithms watching our online behaviors. Enclave has taken these ideas and extended them to their horrific conclusion. This can seem like a grossly distended version of reality and may strike some as Escher-like, while to others it’s a kind of dystopian porn.Coleman sets us up in Safetown, allowing us to walk alongside Christine, but it is not with the sort of familiarity or sympathy we might expect from an anointed heroine/protagonist.When we finally meet some of Christine’s house staff, and I mean really meet them as something other than background to Christine’s perpetual catastrophic personal life, we realize they are exclusively people of colour. Again this is not subtle, not eased on to the reader. Safetown is a kind of twisted white-supremacy fantasy and it bears an awful similarity to multi-million dollar neighborhoods across the country.At this point it would be easy to see Enclave as commentary on the wrong turn society took too-long ago and Christine as an exemplar of our own generation coming to the realisation we are on the wrong side of history.But this is Claire G Coleman and just as the reader starts to feel safe that they know where Christine’s story is heading she pulls back the proverbial curtain.Fans of Claire’s first novel Terra Nullius will know her ability to stage an about face that changes everything you thought you know about the story.Enclave is a dark tale of excess and the absolutely destructive path of privilege. It exposes racism by showing the absolute mundanity of the everyday actions that reinforce power. There were times as I read that I thought the book was moving too slow, not showing me anything I needed to see. But that was Claire lulling a reader like me, someone who’s lived close enough to privilege to not see it, into believing that this world could exist.The horror she paints of a segregated society and rampant excess doesn’t look terribly different to a real housewives episode and therein lies the power.Enclave is an absolute recommendation from me but beware. It’s a story that has your expectations in its sights and knows that we don’t change anything by maintaining the status quo…Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Brendan Colley is a Hobert based writer. He won the University of Tasmania Prize for an Unpublished Work in 2019. Brendan is joining me today with his debut novel, The Signal Line.Geo has returned to Tasmania following the death of his father to sell the family home. The triggers a reunion with his brother Wes who has followed in their father’s footsteps becoming a cop. Wes is not having any of Geo’s talk about selling, the house contains too many memories.Geo needs the money to fund his auditions and fulfill his dream of joining a Symphony Orchestra. That dream is Geo’s true a north, a journey that has taken him far from Tasmania.Geo’s arrival sets the stage for an untimely family conflict, one of supernatural proportions.Join me as we discover Brendan Colley’s The Signal Line...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Today I have brought in for you a book that I have been reading over the long weekend. Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s latest book it’s a collection of essays called Talking About a Revolution. Now before I tell you about the book I want to introduce Yassmin Abdel Magied…In her own words Yassmin is a Sudanese Australian writer, recovering mechanical engineer and award-winning social advocate. Yassmin was born in Khartoum, Sudan and her parents moved the family to Australia when Yassmin was a baby. Yassmin is a mechanical engineer who left her dream of working with formula one and worked on oil and gas rigs.Yassmin turned the story of her early life into the successful book Yassmin’s Story, and in some ways Talking About a Revolution is a successor of that book. Yassmin has also penned a middle grade series beginning with You Must Be Layla, which is being optioned for the screen.Yassmin is a talented writer whose career and life experience have been broad. Which is all important to begin with because she has also been, in her words, the most hated Muslim in Australia.Yassmin Abdel Magied is based in London these days after a social media post five years ago went viral for all the wrong reasons, leading to her receiving death threats and having to move house. Never mind the fact that she was raising an important social justice issue.Talking About a Revolution collects essays written around that time as well as across the intervening years, as well as original essays for the collections. I won’t try to take in the length and breadth of the collection because it’s just not possible in our limited time together.I will highlight the opening sortie from the book ‘Words Means Things’ where Yassmin takes on Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Language to ask the question; if words gain meaning through usage then who gets to make the rules about the ways we use language. What follows is an exploration of the ways cultural usage can be approved or derided, rejected or appropriated.The essay explores how media is able to sway, not just our take on the news but how we perceive events as right or wrong, worthy or distractions. We are asked about who controls the ideas that are broadcast out into the world and in turn who gets to decide what words mean what and in whose mouths we will accept the truth.It’s a great discussion because in exploring ‘words’ it not only acknowledges the sometimes tenuous link between signifier and signified, it also reminds us that meaning is created through action as well as sounds. Silently taking the knee speaks volumes, as does silently walking past racism whether it be on the street or in the administration.I’m still working my way through this collection and its array of ideas. I’m hoping to have Yassmin join me again on Final Draft so keep an ear out for that.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.On today's show Andrew is joined by Jane Rawson with her new novel A History of DreamsAdelaide in the 1930’s. Margaret, Esther and Phyllis are studying to be witches under the guidance of their friend Audrey. The friends have founded the Semaphore Supper Club with the dream of changing people’s minds and helping men and women dream of a more equal world.As the group finish school and enter the so-called ‘real world’ they find that society doesn’t want female adventurers and university graduates. It would rather see women at home; married and pregnant.The friends believe they can change their corner of the world, but they are not the only force that wants to manipulate the country's dreams. As a conservative force rises across Australia the people in power turn their attention to women’s place in the world. And these men have very dark dreams indeed about where women fit in.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
As we’re welcoming Danny to brekkie it got me feeling little nostalgic about Book Clubs involvement with the Breakfast Show. It’s a history that extends back about six years Way back when Nic Healey was hosting he brought me along from our regular weekend book chats and Tuesday book club was born. Now like some sort of community radio time lord we’ve had multiple regenerations from Tess, to Alex and Willy bringing us to Danny.So in honour of my nostalgia I’m going to look back in order to look forward.One of my favourite Australian authors, Sulari Gentill has a new book out. Sulari is well known and loved for her Rowland Sinclair mysteries, set in 1930’s Australia. Her new novel however is a stand alone. It’s called The Woman in the Library and promises to be a real page turning whodunnit.I have read it though… SorryBut a few years back Sulari released another stand alone page turner that absolutely knocked me out with its clever ideas and mind bending twists. And so, until I can get you the latest Sulari Gentill, The Woman in the Library, I’m going to offer up my thoughts on her 2017 novel Crossing the Lines.Madeleine D’Leon is a crime novelist searching for her next big mystery to write. Ned McGinnity is a literary enfant terrible waiting for his muse to strike.Madeleine is intrigued by the voice in her head, could it be her next Detective? He’s a novelist, arrogant, the type who would only write so-called serious literature. Only he’s got himself embroiled in a murder, the sort he would never deem to write but one that he must solve in order to save his friend. Ned doesn’t do genre, wouldn’t stoop to conquer until he stumbles on the almost too delicious temptation of writing a protagonist crime author becoming embroiled in a mystery. Crossing the Lines unravels through entwined chapters of Madeleine and Ned writing each other’s stories and slowly sinking deeper into the pull of the mystery. Ned is beset by danger from every quarter as he races to solve the mystery of the editor and critic, a man who destroyed his first novel. Madeleine is vexed by the possibility that she may be losing her mind.In Crossing the Lines, Sulari Gentill asks and tantalizingly hints at many a reader’s questions about the writer’s creative process. Madeleine and Ned are the voices in each others heads and both need each other to finish the story. They must give themselves over to the story and only through visiting this other life can they get their words onto the page. Often when I speak to authors they tell of characters that occupy their own space in the world. Crossing the Lines challenges the reader with the horrifying possibility that this voice may take on a life of its own.It’s a special thing to be able to delve into the writing process and I can only imagine what it must be to find yourself in the middle of it; becoming a vessel for the action to be transferred to the page. The reader may well find themselves asking is Sulari fully in control of her creation?!Between Madeleine, Sulari and Ned we see not only a crossing of lines but a blurring as reality infuses itself with the narrative and the mystery becomes more intense for being written as we read it.Crossing the lines is a smart, edgy psychological thriller. It’s also a literary romp perfect for people who love their reading a little bit meta. Today’s book club was an encore jazzed up with some tidier writing and a bit more audio skill. And isn’t that the beauty of books; they invite, nay welcome revisiting, always offering something new…Once again welcome Danny.If you want to revisit more books clubs they are available on the Final Draft podcastBook Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Today Andrew is joined by Ben McKenzie & Elizabeth Flux the hosts of Pratchat https://pratchatpodcast.com/Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Brendan Colley is a Hobert based writer. In 2019 Brendan won the University of Tasmania Prize for an Unpublished Work. This came after decades of writing and has delivered us, the readers, The Signal Line, his first novel.Geo has returned to Tasmania following the death of his father. Geo’s back to sell the family home, little realizing that his brother Wes is living there while his marriage breaks down.Wes followed in their father’s footsteps becoming a cop. He’s more like their father than Geo is comfortable with and he’s not having any of Geo’s talk about selling.Geo needs the money to fund his auditions and fulfill his dream of joining a Symphony Orchestra. Their whole family have musical talent but Geo is the one trying to realize his. Geo feels no attachment to Hobart and wants to be rid of the ghosts of his father and the way he treated him.Geo’s arrival sets the stage for an ultimately family conflict… and then a ghost train appears followed closely by an eccentric ghost train hunter.What is Geo to make of the increasingly eclectic cast of characters appearing in his life and why does he feel so at home with them all?The Signal Line is about the things that get us out of bed in the morning and equally keep us up at night.Geo and Wes are each other’s foils; Wes had the talent to make it, Geo the drive. Their father’s descent following a shooting has left them estranged, Geo feels like he was raised by a different man.Without the money from the sale Geo can’t fund his dream of becoming a concert violist and lately he’s come to question that dream.When ghost hunter Sten arrives in Hobart Geo sees in him someone who has unflinchingly followed an impossible dream; to board the ghost train. Can Geo find the same kind of certainty in his dream and is he ready to do what it takes to make it come true.Let’s start by addressing the elephant (or ghost train) in the room. Yes this book has at its core a big whack of the supernatural including a spectral train driving through its core. The supernatural in The Signal Line is handled with a dab hand such that while it literally possesses a ouija board and a lamp it never tips the story into the ridiculous.Instead we have a story that speaks to the reader about longing and purpose. Wes and Geo are perfectly, albeit violently poised in a tense equilibrium. Both have a restless energy that has prevented them finding peace and driven them back together.While the brother’s relationship is at the heart of The Signal Line, the book contains an irrepressible cast of strange and wonderful characters.And of course there's a freakin ghost train. I cannot overstate how exciting the presence of the train is and yet it fades (pun intended) as we lose ourselves in the book’s relationships. There’s absolutely something about a story that constantly surprises you with elements that you are coming.The Signal Line is a definite candidate for fave read so far this year.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Steve Tolz is a novelist and screenwriter. His first novel, A Fraction of the Whole, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. His second novel Quicksand won the 2017 Russell Prize for Humour.Steve is joining me with his latest Here Goes NothingAngus Mooney is dead. He’s not that happy about the fact and is even less impressed about what comes next…Waking in some sort of afterlife Angus finds things are a little strained. He’s not sure if this is heaven or hell and he never expected either. Wherever he is is busy. There’s an influx of guests and the powers that be are struggling to manage the crowd.Moving between Angus’s new afterlife and his final days Here Goes Nothing takes the reader on a bizarre, acerbic, and laugh out loud funny journey through the big questions as asked by a guy who is pretty sure he won’t understand the answer.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Michelle Cahill is a poet, author and essayist. Her short story collection Letter to Pessoa (Giramondo) won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for New Writing and Michelle has a slew of awards and nominations. Michelle’s latest novel is Daisy and Woolf.Daisy & Woolf works itself into the spaces between the seminal Virginia Woolf novel Mrs Dalloway.Woolf’s novel expands across a single day in London society. Clarissa Dalloway embarks to order the flowers. She will host a party that night and she must be prepared. Across the city characters intersect and nearly miss each other in a web of events and reminiscences.One character, remarked upon but who never speaks in Daisy Simmons. It is Daisy who Michelle Cahill rescues from her literary silence to explore her lot and inner world. In doing so Cahill is opening up her novel to the silenced voices of Anglo Indian character who very much occupied Woolf’s mind but failed to feature in her novel.1924 - Daisy Simmons works to arrange passage from Calcutta to London. She must leave her family, desperate to be reunited with her lover Peter Walsh. It is a journey that demands much from her and will extract a price. What can she expect on the other side of the world and is it worth her exercising this reckless freedom?2017 - Mina is a writer trying to pull together the threads of Virginia Woolf’s work into a unique novel. Mina wants to restore agency and voice to Daisy, giving her the story Woolf glossed over.As Mina works to free Daisy from her fictional invisibility she must also reconcile herself to the bonds of her own world; career, family and duty all pulling on her. These are the so-called responsibilities a woman must meet and in shucking them off to write in London Mina must learn to make peace with the costs a writer must pay in bringing a life onto the page…I found Daisy & Woolf a delightfully literary novel. In writing into the cannon of modernist literature Cahill is challenging us to understand what the cannon means to us (and by way of clarification - by cannon I mean the books that are prescribed on syllabus, you know the ones you’re told you simply have to read)With great affection for Woolf, Cahill also challenges the narrowness of the voices she presents to us. Daisy’s world is rich and varied but also beset by its own power dynamics.It seems that in any story some voices will invariably be privileged over others. Just as Woolf failed to give us a whisper of Daisy, in turn Cahill must struggle with the story of Rhadhika. This is not a fault of the book, rather it challenges us as the reader to understand the limitations of storytelling (and I think in turn challenges us to read widely and of many authors with unique perspectives).The stories of Daisy & Woolf intersect to show us the ways that women are hemmed into ways of living and prescribed modes of being. Both Daisy and Mina struggle with their role as mother and the expectations that their own lives should be secondary to their child.Both Daisy and Mina adventure, but with consequence as the novel travels the reader across the globe.Daisy & Woolf is a lush and beautifully realized exploration of life as told through literature. It’s both an homage and a challenge to the literary lives many of us love to get lost in and it left me with a fresh perspective on how I read a novel.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.George Haddad is a writer, artist and doctoral candidate at the Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University.George joins us with his new novel Losing FaceLosing Face is a story about Family…Joey’s nineteen; young and directionless. His Tayta Elaine feels old and wonders at the directions her life has taken her in. Elaine worries about where Joey is heading.The friends Joey hangs out with aren’t the sort you bring home to meet your parents, his job isn’t taking him anywhere and his true friends are busy with uni. Joey feels like he has more to offer but he’s a spectator in his own life and that’s about to lead him into a terrible situation, one that will change many lives, a moment that he won’t be able to take back…Discover George Haddad’s Losing Face...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler are the authors of the critically acclaimed novel Black Cockatoo. Carl is a Jaru and Kija man from Halls Creek. He works with young Indigenous boys focusing on improving engagement with education. Carl was nominated for Australian of the Year in 2016. Hakea is an English teacher who has taught around Australia including in remote Aboriginal communities.Deklan Archer, Dek to his friends, arrives at school to news that has shocked the community. Old Mr Henry, infamous for selling sly grog to locals, has been found drowned.To make matters worse, the bus returning the Year Twelve camp is running late. This has got Dek stressed because he and his mates were mucking around near the bus.The cops are talking to everyone and Dek is one of the first students called up. Could Mr Henry’s death be murder, and if so what does that mean for the busload of missing students?From the start Tracks of the Missing draws the reader into its adventure. From Dek’s perspective this a calamity; he’s got family and friends on the bus and he knows the cops don’t understand the country well enough to search properly.Dek wants to investigate and he and his mates are ready to ditch school and join their family. It’s not that simple though. Dek has a big footy trial coming up. It’s not often the big city scouts come to their remote community. If Dek misses the chance to show his skills then he might miss the only chance he has to get out of town and see the world.Dek’s hand is forced when his Grandfather, a renowned tracker, enlists him to the search. Hitting the road with a reluctant police officer they head into the bush away from the main search party. Grandfather has a feeling and Dek backs him up, but there is something worrying them both this time.Carl and Hakea’s style in Tracks of the Missing is sharp and pacy. When we spoke for Final Draft they described wanting to engage young readers in a way that is exciting but isn’t off putting to those who feel less confident in their reading skills.Carl also talked about wanting to engage young men, particularly in the communities where he’s worked with stories that relate to their personal experience.Tracks of the Missing is a thrilling mystery but at its heart Dek vacillates between the pull to solve it, to save his family and friends and to leave it all behind to follow his footy dreams. Carl talked to me about this pull and the need to walk in two worlds.The novel also highlights the relationship between Dek and his Grandfather. As they track the missing bus, Dek reflects on the skills his grandfather has taught him and how they will be lost when Grandfather dies. Dek is like so many young Indigenous people building connections with culture and worrying that the generation that carries that culture is getting older.Tracks of the Missing also does fascinating things with white conceptions of genre. If you think you know YA, or adventure, or even fantasy, Tracks will shake down your preconceptions and introduce new ways to think about these storytelling tropes.I found Tracks of the Missing a real wild ride with a strong heart. It taught me something about the legacy of colonization and dispossession and challenged my notions of the endurance of culture.Tracks of the Missing is out now from Magabala Books, and just a quick shout out to Magabala. They are an independent Indigenous publishing house that have been around since the eighties. They produce an incredible range of titles from first nations writers, most particularly books for younger readers. If you’re concerned with supporting a change in the kids of stories that are told in this country and offering Indigneous perspectives to young readers they are a must and always my go to when buying books for family and young friends.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Michelle Cahill is a poet, author and essayist. Her short story collection Letter to Pessoa (Giramondo) won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for New Writing and Michelle has a slew of awards and nominations. Michelle join Andrew with her new novel Daisy and Woolf.1924 - Daisy Simmons works to arrange passage from Calcutta to London. She will leave her family, her life to be reunited with her lover Peter Walsh.2017 - Mina is trying to write a novel. She will restore agency and voice to Daisy, a woman who was never even given a voice in Virginia Woolf’s seminal novel Mrs Dalloway. As Mina works to free Daisy from her fictional invisibility Mina must also reconcile herself to the bonds of career, family and duty to make peace with the responsibility of a writer bringing life onto the page…Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Sydney Writers Festival Artistic Director Michael Williams joins Andrew on this special bonus episodeMichael has been the director of the Wheeler Centre, a presenter on Radio National and RRR down in Melbourne. Michael joined SWF during the pandemic and has been instrumental in sheparding the festival through that turbulent time Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Dinuka McKenzie's debut crime fiction novel, The Torrent, won the HarperCollins Australia 2020 Banjo PrizeDinuka joins Ben Herder from 2ser's Death of the Reader in conversation on the podcast today.Heavily pregnant and about to go on maternity leave, Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is counting down the days. When a violent hold-up at a local fast-food restaurant reveals unsettling connections to her own past, Kate knows her final days are going to be complicated.Meanwhile, a simple informal review into the closed case of man drowned in floods is growing into something more complicated. Secrets and betrayals threaten Kates last days, and Kate is forced to consider how far is she prepared to push to discover the truth?Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Today I’ve brought you all a book that I flew through. I don't know which cliche you want to invoke; page turner, unputdownable, I found myself thinking of them all as I devoured George Haddad’s Losing Face.George Haddad is an award winning writer from Western Sydney. He won the Viva la Novella for his story Populate or Perish and is a doctoral candidate at the Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University.Losing Face is told between the narrative perspectives of Joey and his Tayta Elaine.Elaine came to Australia as a young wife from her village in Lebanon. Through years of work and raising a family she has confronted the expectations and disdain her adoptive country has heaped on her. Now with her husband gone she lives for her grandsons, although she is not quite sure what Joey is doing with his life.Joey’s nineteen; young enough to feel bulletproof but far enough away from school to wonder if he should be doing more. His friends aren’t everything to him, his job is even less than that but Joey feels like he has more to offer.As Joey drifts from music festivals to cafes and barbershops he wonders whether his life should be more. In doing nothing he is setting himself on a path that finds him in a car full of young men like himself. Men who want more from the world, and in one horrific chain of events try to take it.Losing Face performs the incredible narrative feat of vividly realizing an ensemble cast of characters and then challenging the reader to explore their morality.While I’m not going to give away the pivotal moment that sends Joey and the novel hurtling towards their conclusion, it’s fair to say that Losing Face takes on the social question of men’s power and privilege and how that is weaponized against women.Through the juxtaposed narratives of Joey and Elaine we see the toll of displacement from home and family and the legacy it leaves on families. Where Elaine learned how to be a Lebanese woman in the often racist world she found herself living in, Joey finds himself adrift. Is he the young Leb that people stare at on the streets of Greenacre or can he be the white, privileged Aussie that his father’s background might offer him.In avoiding these choices Joey allows himself to be buffeted by the will of others in his life. It’s a non-decision that proves fateful.Losing Face is powerful because it makes you care for Joey even as it shows you why you could hate him. It challenges the reader with injustice and makes us culpable for rooting for a protagonist who is implicated.Losing Face is the new novel from George Haddad and it’s out now through UQPGeorge will be joining me on the show this Saturday morning and is also appearing as part of Sydney Writers Festival running the 16th - 22nd May.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Fiona Wood is a celebrated author of children’s literature and she is joining me today with her new novel How to Spell Catastrophe.Nell is going through a lot right now. She’s in Year Six and next everything was going to change anyway, but now her mum has a new boyfriend and they are planning on moving in together, her best friendship is feeling a little cold and her new friend is sometimes mean.Nell’s used to planning for catastrophe’s but now her life is feeling a little out of control and that’s before she starts to look at what’s going on with climate change.Nell is facing down one of the first big changes most younger people face; the transition from primary to high school and she’s doing it in a world with a very uncertain future…Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
Today I want to bring it back local, which is something that I think we are particularly good at here at 2ser. Focussing in on local creators doing interesting, innovative things.My book this week is Climb from Philip Barker. Philip is a teacher from the Blue Mountains and he’s taken his understanding of his students and his passion for climbing and turned it into an incredible debut.In Climb we meet Ashley Davies. Ashely has a talent for climbing but so far it’s only proven useful finding the best tree at lunch time and escaping from bullies who insult her brother.Ashley loves her family and her town but now she’s in High school she realises there’s a lot she doesn’t understand.There’s too many secrets in Ashley’s life and no one wants to trust her with the truth. So when a rock-climbing competition offers her the chance to (maybe) get some answers, Ashley decides it might be worth keeping a few secrets of her own…The first thing I want to note about Climb is the centering of Ashley and the way that issues to do with young adults on the cusp of change is dealt with sensitively.It may seem like a truism that come election season someone is going to bring up lowering the election age and this is invariably met with a slew of stereotypes about the immaturity of youth. In Climb we get to see that the emotions and reactions of youth are natural and often well thought out (if poorly executed). Barker shows us that when you are disempowered and made to feel a spectator in your own life it makes sense to take things into your own hands.A strength of contemporary YA (young adult) writing is that it melds powerful characterisation with important issues. I’m never going to get to all the wonderful books that cross my desk but shout out to all the amazing cli-fi and other social justice issues being explored.Ashley is interested in how she can be herself and why this always seems to be the subject of someone’s approval.Climb takes us into the world of competitive climbing and tries to show us the passion along with the consequences. The book even begins with a ‘don’t try this at home’ type warning. We see in Ashley the infinite potential of starting something new melded with the risk of failing at something essential.Another aspect I want to shout out is that Climb is independently published. Brought out through Abbeydale Collective, Philip described the group when we spoke as something of the beating heart of the book. Of course we know writers as the name on the cover but Abbeydale collective is a way to acknowledge the numerous and varied people that go into publishing.Climb is an incredible achievement on its own but the book is already spawning a sequel. On the strength of the original story a follow up is on the horizon and may segue to more mainstream publishing. Whatever the outcome I wanted to introduce all to Climb for its incredible story and the world of possibility out there in original Sydney storytellers.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Callan J Mulligan is a writer of Science Fiction and Thrillers. He’s joining me today with his latest novel Astraeus.Astraeus takes us on board the eponymous world settler starship, where one hundred thousand people are traveling on a one way trip into the Milky Way. When an engineer is murdered the Astraeus finds itself at a turning point.Join me as we discover Callan J Mulligan’s Astaraeus...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Philip Barker is a teacher from the Blue Mountains. He’s joining us with his debut novel Climb.Ashley Davies has a talent for climbing but so far it’s only useful for hiding out at lunch time and beating bullies who insult her brother.There’s too many secrets in Ashley’s life and no one wants to trust her with the truth. So when a rock-climbing competition offers her the chance to, maybe, get some answers, Ashley decides it might be worth keeping a few secrets of her own…Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Connect with Philip and discover Climb - https://www.abbeydalecollective.com/Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Andrew Roff is an award winning writer of short stories including the 2020 Peter Carey Short Story Award for his story Bock Bock as well as the 2018 Margaret River Press Short Story Competition for his story Pigface. Both of which appear in his debut collection The Teeth of a Slow Machine.“Sometimes the only way to make things clear is to rearrange the story”The Teeth of a Slow Machine is a delightfully unsettling collection. Offering a kaleidoscopic view, the stories in The Teeth of a Slow Machine seem to exist in a dark underworld with a funhouse mirror view of life.Join Andrew (and Andrew) as they discuss The Teeth of a Slow MachineFinal Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Connect with Andrew Roff - https://roffwrites.com/ Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Yumna Kassab is a writer from Western Sydney. Her work has been featured in, Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin and the Sydney Morning Herald amongst. He debut book is the critically acclaimed and much prize listed, The House of Youssef. Yumna's her debut novel is Australiana.Australiana writes itself into the fabric of modern Australia.In a town of drought and flood the people have learned to ebb and flow with the whims of nature. Where every face is familiar it is in the details that the stories of life and death occur.Australiana takes the reader to the towns where we live and explores the voices that populate each corner.Yumna Kassab joins Andrew to discuss her new novel Australiana...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Connect with Yumna Kassab - https://twitter.com/kassabyumna Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Ben Walter is an award winning writer of stories, essays and poems. He is the fiction editor of Island magazine and is joining me today with his debut collection of short stories What Fear Was.What Fear Was takes the reader through a diverse set of landscapes and into strange yet familiar spaces. From our relationship to the natural world to natures barely withheld disdain for our mistreatment, and abuse. This collection is a surreal exploration…What Fear Was constantly challenges our sense of where we fit in the world we too-often think we own.Ben Walter joins Andrew to discuss his debut collection of short fiction What Fear Was...Discover more from Ben on his websiteben-walter.comFinal Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Jane Rawson is the author of novels, essays and non-fiction. She won the Aurealis Awards for Science Fiction for her novel From the Wreck.A History of Dreams transports the reader to Adelaide in the late 1930’s.Margaret, Esther, Phyl and Audrey are finishing high school with dreams of what the future might hold. Margaret wants to attend university but her father forbids it as improper for a young woman.Within their lives and their families, each of the women is constrained in their own way by the society around them. The world seems to be pushing them towards marriage and nuclear families, no matter what they want for themselves. But Audrey has a way to fight back, a secret passed down through generations of spinster women. Audrey is going to teach the others witchcraft!The group form the Semaphore Supper Club and wield power over dreams to instigate changes in their social lives. Their influence begins as small changes. Shifting the perspective of the men in their lives; nodding them towards equality.Their mission becomes serious however when the club uncovers a conservative cell amongst a male poet’s group. These men come together to tout national myths that erase all but those they deem worthy. Bent on power they are emboldened by events in Europe.Can a group of young witches with the power of dreams defeat a rising tide of authoritarianism that would have them all chained to the home?A History of Dreams hits a pitch perfect period atmosphere of early twentieth century Adelaide. In Margaret, Esther, Phyl and Audrey we are presented with four protagonists who are varied and sympathetic, whilst also pushing out against stereotypes of their position in their society.More importantly perhaps is that the novel reminds us that the rise of racist nationalism in the early twentieth century was not the exclusive provenance of an Austrian house painter. A History of Dreams shows how the frustrated ambitions of small minded men can be bent towards oppression no matter where they hail from.We travel alongside the quartet of witches as they grow into their power and their place in the world. Despite being able to manipulate dreams they find themselves stymied in making their own dreams a reality. We are shown that power and strength are held within institutions and despite the four’s efforts they are always working from without.It’s interesting to think on the ease with which male power wields itself within the novel. The men declaim their presumed superiority openly and with impunity.This sets up a tension between the magic of the Semaphore Supper Club and the power of institutions, the weight of societal expectation.The world of a History of Dreams parallels our own up to a point. Of course the witchcraft is an initial departure and this plays on the notion that women at that time had very little in the way of power. Young women seeking to influence their future might well have thought of choice or autonomy as being as fanciful as a dream. Equally they would have had to work subtly, changing minds through persuasion rather than exerting brute force.The metaphor of the exercise of power is extended as the Semaphore Supper Club’s opponents are able to commend increasingly powerful forces. These are not foes who have to win hearts and minds. They exercise fear and sow division; a prominent arm of the authoritarian government is even called Orders and Borders and well, I’m not going to tell you how to interpret that…This is an alternate history of Australia and I’m not going to give up the secrets of the story, but suffice to say it has much to say about conservative flirtations with Nationalism and authoritarianism.The power to change dreams is an intriguing one. It involves crafting a frame of mind and way of thinking that will influence actions both big and small. It’s about what we believe and how we take that belief out into the world. It’s the opposite of big gestures, with little substance, and looks instead to the long term.I can’t for the life of me imagine what Jane Rawson might be getting at with this?!Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
As I was casting around for which book we could discuss in this week’s book club I got to thinking about all the ways we organise our reading and think about our books (some more obvious than others) And the thing is, if you’re in the know then you know but for others it can be a mire of acronyms and loosely defined genres.A part of this discussion is inspired by a book I’m reading but haven’t quite gotten to the point that I want to pull it apart for a book club…This book is YA (that’s Young Adult fiction) but it’s probably more accurately described as middle grade. See already there’s all sorts of distinctions around age. Middle grade is books aimed at the 8-12 year old set, while YA hits around 13-18.Now I know that there are plenty of fully adult listeners out there still enjoying wizards and vampires and I don’t want to get proscriptive. These categories are helpful for finding books with relatable protagonists, btu we’d be in a lot of trouble (I think) if people only read books where the lead looks and sounds a lot like them.As well as being a mid-grade/YA novel, this book also loosely falls into the genre of Cli-Fi. I’m sure a few of you have already guessed that Cli-Fi stands for climate fiction. Here again we don’t necessarily have the clearest of delineations but suffice to say that Cli-Fi encompasses books that deal with the impacts and effects of climate change in all its permutations.The label Cli-Fi is credited to the author and freelance journalist Dan Bloom. The term was first used in reference to a novella Bloom had written back in 2011.Of course this doesn’t mean that Cli-Fi magicked into being only a decade ago. Writing that deals with the climate and more specifically changes in the climate have been around for a while (doesn’t the Bible have a climate change story?)I’ve come up against the term numerous times over the years and I have to admit it can seem a little slippery. I believe this more a product of the difficulty in finding some simple way to characterize writing; whether it be aimed at a group, a country, or an age there are always going to be a range of tastes and styles that people gravitate towards.Cli-Fi can variously be realist or speculative. It may be set in the ‘now’ (whatever that means for a constantly evolving world), in the near future or even the distant future.The science in Cli-Fi is usually to some degree credible. Of course science changes as we learn more, but Cli-FI tries to engage with real science more than the purely imaginative or impossible.If you’re looking for Cli-Fi it’s everywhere. Margaret Atwood’s Oryx And Crake trilogy is an example but Australian authors produce some incredible examples including Alexis Wright’s The Swan Book, James Bradley’s Clade and Jennifer Mills Dyschronia.And Cli-Fi can be for all ages, which kind of brings us full circle. I know we’ve talked about the work of Mark Smith on book club and his most recent If Not Us pits a teenage protagonist against the polluting business that is the mainstay of his town.In these YA Cli-Fi novels we see narratives of climate change and climate action that centres and empowers young people. We live in a world where legally the minister for climate apparently has no duty of care to protect young Australians from the impacts of climate change. It’s not surprising then that climate anxiety is a real phenomenon amongst young people the world over.I’m not trying to suggest that Cli-Fi, or simply telling noise stories is the way to solve the climate crisis, but I do believe that the adage if you can’t see it you can’t be it can apply to all of us through our life.Climate change operates on a planetary level and that can seem daunting but through genres such as Cli-Fi and its intersection with YA and middle grade novels, young people have a model and an example of their role. It also allows them to explore the science in a way that can be more accessible.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Jennifer Shahade is a two-time US Women's Chess ChampionChess Queens tells Jennifer's own story alongside those of the top female players from around the world.Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2serInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.The Stella Prize is now in its tenth year, beginning when a group of women in Australian publishing banded together to address the huge and unacknowledged disparity in the ways women's writing was represented in Australia.Jaclyn Booton is the Executive Director of The Stella Prize and she joins Andrew to talk about the work of The Stella Prize, the recent achievements of the Stella Count and the 2022 Shortlist announcement.In alphabetical order by author surname, the 2022 Stella Prize shortlist is: TAKE CAREby Eunice Andrada (Giramondo Publishing) * Dropbearby Evelyn Araluen (University of Queensland Press) * No Documentby Anwen Crawford (Giramondo Publishing) * Bodies of Lightby Jennifer Down (Text Publishing) * Stone Fruitby Lee Lai (Fantagraphics) * Homecoming*by Elfie Shiosaki (Magabala Books)
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Emma Viskic is a musician and author. Her series staring Deaf PI Caleb Zelic has won Ned Kelly and Davitt awards and has a long list of shortlistings for other prizes. The latest in the Caleb Zelic series is Those Who Perish.Emma joins Felix Shannon in conversation on the podcast today.Deaf PI Caleb Zelic has always been an outsider, estranged from family and friends. But when he receives a message that his brother, Anton, is in danger, Caleb sees it as a chance at redemption.He tracks Anton down to a small, wind-punished island, where secrets run deep and resentments deeper. When a sniper starts terrorising the isolated community, the brothers must rely on each other like never before. But trust comes at a deadly price …Need more Felix Shannon in you life?!Felix takes you on a world wide mystery tour each week on Death of the ReaderFinal Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
There is a wealth of great short story collections lately and one that really stands out is Andrew Roff’s The Teeth of a Slow MachineThe Teeth of a Slow Machine is an extraordinary collection that invites both pure enjoyment alongside deeper existential exploration. The name gives you something of the flavour of what’s to come…Walking along an escarpment, guiding overindulged holiday makers a young zoologist laments that there are no jobs that better fit her qualifications. Stuck on this exclusive island with one percenters she’s not allowed to fraternise with, she observes the jutting headlands are like the teeth of a slow machine. The analogy is jarring and a little strange, invoking some sort of inexorable movement between entwined pieces. In the pages to come we will be shown the surrounding landscape as both sublime and as the playing thing of the rich. I was never quite sure if the slow machine might be the passage of geological time or the man made erosion working invisibly even in the most remote locations.Collections can be taken as a whole or enjoyed one out. I’m still reading Slow Machine (that’s how much I’m enjoying it, I had to bring it in early) so I’ll give you a flavour and impressions.Each story in this collection feels a little Twilight Zone, like viewing the world through a funhouse mirror. It’s the stuff of lucid dreams and strange what ifs…Like in the opening story of the collection ‘Bock Bock’, where we follow a shadowy pair of enforcers as they travel the countryside ensuring the brand integrity and intellectual property of a fast food chicken franchise. Moving from small restaurants to flea markets these operatives are almost fanatical in their desire to keep the recipe and the founders image safe.In a connected world where it too often feels like our devices are listening to us, it’s not hard to believe that big brands might employ hit squads to maintain their image.In Else/If we learn a love story written and code and programming language as a woman tries to write an algorithm that will calculate her partners chances of surviving. This felt like the bleeding edge of our over intellectualised mortality. A kind of love letter to our collective attempts to assess and rationalise all the risk we’ve been forced to confront over the last two years.The collection is also dark to the point of macabre. In The MInd Body Problem we read a scientist's log as their team works to try and uncover the nature of the duality of consciousness. The experiment it turns out has been approved by a government desperate for funding to sustain their offshore processing facilities and thus the experiments are being done on detainees. As we follow this descent into infamy we start to appreciate that the true separation between intellect and emotion is unravelling in the team of scientists.By taking a slightly skewed look at our world Roff is exploring something of who we are. How you read each story; is it realist or speculative, dark or funny will stem from your world view and life experience.This is made abundantly clear in The Last Day of Christmas. A young girl jealousy steals away the chocolate her brother was gifted while a tragedy unfolds around her. While it is clear to the reader what is happening the girl herself is focussed more on her relatively minor crime.It’s always tempting to try and see a larger pattern in a collection of short stories, some link that ties them together. As I look forward to the few stories I have left to discover in The Teeth of a Slow Machine I think that my link is that these are perspectives I need to see even if they are at times abhorrent, at times absurd.
Yumna Kassab is a writer from Western Sydney. Her work has been featured in Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin and the Sydney Morning Herald amongst. Yumna’s debut book is the critically acclaimed and much prize listed, The House of Youssef.The subject of today’s book club is Yumna’s debut novel Australiana.Australiana takes us to the north-eastern New South Wales region around Tamworth, an area Yumna lived for many years as a teacher.Across diverse and interwoven sections Yumna weaves a tale of a region overwhelmed by drought and struggling to reconcile itself to the threat of oblivion that the lack of rain brings.The book travels across literary styles and moves through time to evoke the region and the people who live there.The opening section entitled The Town moves in tightly narrated vignettes that link each other via small details, almost talismans. Yumna describes her inspiration as the tales of the One Thousand and One Nights, where every evening the story dangles linking to the next to ensure the continued telling and life of Scheherazade.In the interlinking tales I felt the kinds of bonds of community that bring people together. Whether near or far everyone knows a little something of each other and these links forge the greater whole.In the telling of the stories in Australiana we become privy to the minds of the town, riding alongside them as they face the increasingly dry landscape. In these perspectives we see something of what keeps each person on the land and the extremes that may yet drive them off it.In the section entitled The Blind Side we sit and listen as the narrator tells the story of Barry to Barry’s son. Now missing, the narrator weaves a tale that encompasses a group of young friends moving to the city and their various fates away from the town.As the only one to return to the town they grew up in, the narrator has some suspicion and disdain for his old friends but remains steadfast even as Barry finds himself with the town turning against him. Through the changing fortunes of Barry and the struggle of the narrator to stay true to his friend we learn a little more of how the land pulls at people in a way that perhaps we can never know in the city.Australiana is a unique and fascinating novel, both for its subject and its ever shifting style. The name Australiana seems to evoke a kind of nationalistic kitsch. I imagined Henry Lawson and Dorothea McKellar kicking the footy while Banjo Patterson burns sausages on the barbie. But the result is a work that challenges the sacred cows of white Australian ruggedness whilst also asking us to look closer at environments that we often take for granted or see as only regional jaunts.In describing the book, Yuman Kassab told me she shys away from the term ‘novel’ in favour of an ecosystem. The book seeks to encompass the human and non-human, living and organically inert to more fully encompass place and life.The book is at turns serious and absurd, challenging and evocative and offers a unique perspective on our world.Yumna Kassab’s Australiana is out now from Ultimo Press.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Rhett Davis is a writer whose work has appeared in publications like The Big Issue and Meanjin. He won the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. His debut novel is HoveringAlice Wren is mid-flight. At the insistence of an urgent email Alice has fled Berlin, returning to Australia and her hometown of Fraser.After seventeen years the city is not what she remembers. The taxis are blue, her sister resents her disappearance and the nephew she has never met is now almost a man.As for the city of Fraser; it changes daily, shifting, dislocating and rearranging itself in unfathomable ways.Lydia and George don’t know what to make of Alice’s sudden return. Who is this woman who says she is there relative and what is the dark secret she is trying to escape from?Rhett Davis joins Andrew to discuss Hovering...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Festivals are back and it's time to get amongst it with like minded book lovers!With book stores featuring author events and Sydney Writers Festival about to drop its 2022 programming the time to read and mingle is now!Blak & Bright Festival was established in Naarm in 2016. Making a triumphant return in 2022, the festival now features a Sydney event!What – Blak & Bright Sydney Satellite eventWhen – Saturday the 19th of MarchWhere – Writing NSW, Callan Park, Balmain Road, LilyfieldDetails – blakandbright.com.auYou can check out interviews with so many writers from the Blak & Bright Festival line up.Check out the Final Draft Great Conversations archive!Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.With International Women’s Day recently being marked on March 8 it was impossible to go past Eliza Reilly’s new book Sheilas. With the tagline Badass Women of Australian History, Sheilas promises to kick down the doors of history classrooms and rip the stale, pale and male textbooks from your hands delivering a powerful hit of the women that chroniclers of history forget or relegate to the footnotes.Featuring more than a dozen women across a century of Australian History, Sheilas is all the inspiration you need to go out and change your world for the better.Eliza Reilly joins Andrew to discuss Sheilas, Badass Women of Australian HistoryFinal Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Eliza Reilly is an award winning writer, director, performer as well as a community radio legend over on FBi, presenting the long running Girls Gone Mild.Eliza’s debut book Sheila’s grew out of the web series of the same name Eliza produced and starred in alongside her sister Hannah.Sheila’s presents profiles of prominent women who have played important but often unheralded roles in shaping the world we live in.Beginning in the 1860’s with Mary-Ann Bug; bushranger and highway woman extraordinaire, the book intersperses badass lives with historical tidbits that serve to illuminate just how awful it was to be a woman, let alone a poor woman, or a woman of colour.The thrust of the book is that progress has not been made in a vacuum and is directly the result of people who wouldn’t sit down when they were told.Australia has a revolutionary but not uncomplicated history of women’s rights. I mean we can just start with the whole battle for rights and the fact that it’s quite a bit shit that men have never seen fit to shuffle over and make space but have had to be cajoled and bludgeoned into doing what is just right.I mean just take the fact of Australia’s early introduction of women’s suffrage and then the abhorrent asterix to that achievement that *first nations women were only recognised as human in 1967 and their full right to vote was only secured completely in 1984 when the government made enrolling to vote at federal elections compulsory for First Nations people.Sheila’s speaks to the reader in their own voice and does not shy away from surprise and disgust at the facts it reveals. The book also intersperses contemporary perspectives whilst trying to avoid universalising or talking over its historical subjects.I read Sheila’s as a fan of the web series and of Eliza’s TV work. In Sheila’s she’s created an immensely readable text that takes on established ‘history’ by writing itself into the cracks and shadows. This is a book that understands the process of erasure that has been undertaken for generations and reminds it that women aren’t going to smile and cop it anymore.Of course the process of redressing historical blinspots, erasure and general bastardry isn;t the work of a single book. If you’re thinking of reading up on more of these issues around women’s roles that are underappreciated you can also check outYou Daughters of Freedom - Clare WrightThis is What a Feminist Looks Like - Emily MAguireTalkin’ Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism - Aileen Moreton-RobinsonBook Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Jane Harrison joins Andrew to talk about the importance of First Nations writing and the Blak & Bright Festival, coming to Sydney!Jane Harrison is a playwright, novelist and researcher descended from the Muruwari people. Jane is also the director of Blak & Bright a First Nations Literary Festival based in Naarm (Melbourne).Blak & Bright Festival is making a triumphat return in 2022, and the festival now features a Sydney event!What - Blak & Bright Sydney Satellite eventWhen - Saturday the 19th of MarchWhere - Writing NSW, Callan Park, Balmain Road, LilyfieldDetails - blakandbright.com.auGreat Conversations is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Maryrose Cuskelly is an award winning writer of fiction and nonfiction. iMaryrose joins Andrew in conversation to discuss her debut novel The Cane.Sixteen year old Janet McClymont went missing weeks ago and the town of Quala in North Queensland is on edge. Parents are jumping at shadows, ferrying kids to school lest they walk too close to the cane fields where Janet disappeared.Every inch of the region has been searched and the worst is feared.Tensions run high as the townspeople watch each other with suspicion. Every man in town has been questioned and while Janet could have been taken by an outsider, the townspeople cannot help but ask; what if the culprit is among them?Join Andrew as we discover Maryrose Cuskelly’s The Cane...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Rhett Davis is a writer whose work has appeared in publications like The Big Issue and Meanjin. He won the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. His debut novel is HoveringAs Hovering begins Alice Wren is mid-flight. At the insistence of an urgent email Alice has fled Berlin, returning to Australia and her hometown of Fraser.After seventeen years the city is not what she remembers. The taxis are blue, her sister resents her disappearance and the nephew she has never met is now almost a man.As for the city of Fraser; it changes daily, shifting, dislocating and rearranging itself in unfathomable ways.Lydia and George don’t know what to make of Alice’s sudden return. Lydia retreats into an online sanctuary, craving the predictability and control of her digital garden. George maintains a kind of stoic silence, communicating online through text. It is the only way he can quiet the voices that flow unbidden through his head.Hovering is a fascinating, conceptually dense novel that seeks to engage with our digitally saturated world by exploring its extremes. The action radiates out from the novel's central family of Alice, Lydia and George..Alice initially fled Fraser because she felt it was a cultural backwater. Her quest led her to a state of permanent dislocation as she struggles to find anywhere that is truly home. In Alice we confront cultural cringe in all its permutations…Lydia and George lead diverging online lives. Lydia is the fear of the iPad generation all grown up. Despite her son reaching out to her to bridge the gap, she would rather stay logged on and seek comfort in the algorithms she understands better than people.George navigates these ructions with seeming equanimity. He lives comfortably on and offline. At least as comfortably as anyone might trying to move forward in a constantly changing world.Hovering concerns itself with the ways and means of our daily communication. Davis explores how the flow of communication can facilitate or interrupt life.In the ever changing geography of Fraser it is impossible to know if your commute to work will remain the same, or even if you’ll return to your address and find your house or a skyscraper. This is, as you might imagine, off putting to the residents and yet for the generation growing up knowing no other way they are comfortable, even happy with the uncertainty. It is near impossible to enjoy the privileges of property status when anyone could find themselves in a mansion or a hovel.Within the text Davis explores the nuances of our everyday communication. From newspapers and emails, to an entire section written in metadata we are afforded the opportunity to explore what it means to separate the signal from the noise.All this finds its zenith in George. Afflicted with bouts of crippling noise, George must shut down communication lest he be drowned in the noise. It seems that George is filtering an impossible amount of transmission but can he sift through to make some sort of meaning?The unrest in Fraser builds with the revelation of Alice’s secret. Physical and digital space become blurred and the how and why of our way of life becomes a very important question to those who want to hunt down Alice and see her answer for her actions.I feel like I’ve been a little opaque in this review and that’s partly because there are secrets to keep and in part because in challenging form and style Hovering is a novel you have to experience not explain.Defying genre and challenging convention, I found Hovering an exciting read. Where others look back to understand our moment, Rhett Davis has looked forward, inward and beyond to craft a narrative space all its own.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Claire G Coleman is a Noongar writer of fiction, essays, poetry and criticism. She is the author of Terra Nullius, The Old Lie and Lies Damned Lies.Claire joined Andrew in conversation to discuss the impact of the pandemic on authors whose books have released in the last two years. In the course of their conversation they discuss the ways we interpret and understand history. The impact of wholesale lies being sold as alternate truth and even get into the workings of Claire's writing.Featuring Claire discussing her upcoming novel 'Enclave'! Join Andrew in conversation with Claire G Coleman...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Today's show features Vanessa Len discussing her new book Only a MonsterJoan was always told her family was different. Every summer she visits her mother’s family in London. From volunteering in her dream job at a museum, to the cute boy she volunteers with her holiday is just about perfect.Except Joan’s got a secret even she doesn’t know. Monsters are real and she is one. What does this mean? Well her date’s not going well and Joan has questions for her grandmother, but that’s all going to have to wait until Joan is done running for her life!Join Andrew in conversation with Vanessa Len...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Maryrose Cuskelly is an award winning writer or fiction and nonfiction. Her debut novel is The Cane.The Cane transports the reader to the Northern Queensland canefields and back in time to the 1970’s.The town of Quala is reeling from the disappearance of sixteen year old Janet McClymont. In the weeks since Janet failed to arrive at her babysitting job the canefields have been repeatedly swept by search parties and every man is the district has been grilled over his whereabouts at the time of her disappearance.Told through a multitude of perspectives, The Cane delves into the psychology of a town on the brink. The questions of whether Janet is alive is almost secondary to the rarely spoken, ‘could have been one of us?’This is a society that views outsiders with suspicion.The new school teacher is too tall, too long haired and too free in his advocacy of social change. His alibi must be rechecked and still not believed.The new publican’s daughter is old for primary school and too open in her ways with the boys. Raelene flaunts the unspoken rules that have turned the town in on itself. She freely walks alone and refuses to defer to parental authority.The new copper brought in from Brisbane is just too much because she’s a woman and Quala’s men have their own ideas about the roles women should occupy.With the harvest being held off in the hopes that Janet might be found before the cane burn the stage is set for tensions to run high. If the cops can’t do anything about the malignant force that seems to have invaded Quala the locals might just have to sort it out themselves.The Cane has all the elements of a seat of your pants beach read, purpose built to give you aching arms and sunburn as you lay too long turning page after page. As it builds inexorably towards the moment the canefields are set alight the book shows us how social unrest brews in a town turned against itself.The various narratorial perspectives glimpse at the ways this highly conservative social milieu is fighting against itself and the forces of change. Women in particular are given the spotlight as agents of change and targets of those who would maintain the status quo.The narrative is based on a true story and it is not simply in this historical alignment that we can find resonance with The Cane’s exploration of social expectation and control.It was interesting to read back fifty years in the wake of the current news cycle. While the sexism and misogyny of many of The Cane’s men is more bald than we might be used to today, there is undoubtedly a through line from older attitudes towards women working, reading and expressing themselves openly, and attitudes in certain sections of the media about ‘proper’ behaviour from prominent women.By giving us perspectives from characters as diverse as children, established and recent arrivals we are privy to a world that is seeking a united front but is torn by feelings that something is not right.As I entered the world of The Cane I fell into the trap of trying to solve the mystery alongside the characters. This is not a traditional ‘fair play’ style whodunnit although it offers a compelling psychological search. As a reader you are given enough of a glimpse into the ensemble cast of characters to wonder at who might be the perpetrator, and perhaps just as importantly, how that person may go unseen within a close knit community.Check out The Cane. It’s an exciting read with its soul in the heart of contemporary questions about how we treat and respond to violence against women.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.The Furies takes us to Queensland in the nineties. Cynthia has watched her family fall apart and is left in a world she does yet understand. Driven by forces outside her understanding she must negotiate a world that is openly hostile to her.Today's show features Mandy Beaumont discussing her new book The FuriesJoin Andrew in conversation with Mandy Beaumont...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Jessica Au is a writer based in Melbourne. Her debut novel is 2011’s Cargo. Her latest novel, Cold Enough for Snow is the inaugural winner of the Novel Prize, which will see it published worldwide and translated into fifteen languages.Cold Enough For Snow begins in transit; the narrator has arrived in Tokyo and awaits her mother’s arrival on a separate flight. They are on a train station travelling to a gallery; moving from a Metro line to a suburban line and then walking through familiarly unfamiliar streets. As the move together the narrator is always conscious of her mother’s presence, testing out their proximity in space as well as time as she thinks back to the near and more distant past.Cold Enough For Snow’s narrator is searching for something on this trip. She reflects on her mother’s youth in Hong Kong, paralleled with her own Australian upbringing. She wonders at her education that has shifted her perspectives away from her mother’s.In a very slim volume Cold Enough For Snow covers a lot of ground, both figuratively and metaphorically. The pair of mother and daughter travel around Japan, moving every few days. All the while the narrator is moving through her life and relationships as moments trigger memories.The narrator’s seeming quest has her reaching for moments and experiences and this is contrasted by the more relaxed aura of the mother who is happy to do anything. In these moments we see the narrator reflect on her education and the sacrifices her mother made to provide it. The narrator wants to return some of the wonder she has discovered but also struggles to put into words what that might be.The journey of Cold Enough For Snow is both physical and existential and I could have stayed in the pages simply for the vicarious sense of flux and transit (it’s been so long since any of us travelled). The novel also gave me that tension you feel when you can’t quite allow yourself to simply be in a moment, when the conscious mind tears you away and forces you into ruminations and doubts.The narrator’s mother observes to her that our education and understanding do not necessarily make us happier or improve our world and it is not until much later that the narrator comes to her own realisation; “I had one vague exhausted thought that perhaps it was alright not to understand all things but simply to see and hold them”.Cold Enough For Snow is beautiful and thoughtful. I’d no sooner finished it than, like any good trip, I wanted to go back and do it all again safe in the knowledge that familiar locations could reveal new secrets.Definitely check out Jessica Au’s Cold Enough For SnowBook Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. Today though, we're branching out with a new conversation. Do you need more books in your life?The depth and variety of Australian publishing is such that there are always more books than we can ever cover on the show. Never fear though, because the strength of Australia's publishing is closely followed by the variety of Aussie book podcasters!In a new segment Andrew will be sitting down with Australian book podcasters to find out a little bit about their shows, what they love to read and how they deal with a book nerds most scandalous problems.Joining Andrew in our first podcaster conversation is Dani Vee host of the Words & Nerds podcast. Renowned for her infectious energy and insightful questions, Dani was a natural debut for our as-yet unnamed new segment!Join Andrew in conversation with Dani Vee...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleDani is the host of Words & Nerds and has a picture book coming out this year!Discover Dani and the Words & Nerds podcast...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.In Cold Enough For Snow we join a young woman and her mother on a holiday to Japan. Now living in different cities, the trip is a chance for the two to reconnect and spend time that feels increasingly spare.As they travel from temples and galleries and eat together in restaurants the young woman searches her past looking for a way to understand who she is and how as an adult she relates to her aging mother.Today's show features Jessica Au discussing her new book Cold Enough For SnowJoin Andrew in conversation with Jessica Au...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Bri Lee is a lawyer and writer. Her books include the award winning Eggshell Skull and Beauty. Her latest is Who Gets to Be Smart.Who Gets to Be Smart begins in Oxford. Bri Lee is visiting a friend there on a Rhodes Scholarship. As she wanders the lanes and cobbles of Oxford’s campuses Lee thinks back to Virginia Woolf decrying the iniquity that sees Women scholars living in relative squalor compared to their male peers.Woolf wrote about this iniquity, positing the solution that women needed A Room of One’s Own, and five hundred pound a year.Nearly a century later Bri Lee realises that this is not enough. That equality within the system does not address the systemic privilege and bias that props up the system, creating a framework of elitism that maintains power in the hands of a few. Where Woolf worries about the lack of money for women, Lee questions where the money comes from. In the money and power that prop up the colleges she finds a system of institutionalising education that reinforces the very systems that fund them.Who Gets to Be Smart challenges the rationale of the academy and its stranglehold on so-called intelligence. The books takes the reader on a tour through the racist legacy of Cecil Rhodes and his bequest that founded the Rhodes scholarship, through to the contemporary parallel of the Australian Ramsay Centre. The Ramsay Centre’s mission to fund scholarships in ‘western civilisation’ highlights that tertiary institutions are not simply neutral spaces of so-called higher learning, but active participants in a process of consolidating power through ideas.Lee asks the reader to consider the the concept of Kyriarchy and Kyriarchal systems. Now there are multiple wonderful, much better qualified explainers of Kyriarchy including Bri Lee and Omid Tofighian whom Lee engages with (Read them if my examples make no sense). My understanding of Kyriarchy is that it is interrelated systems in our social world that work to keep us off-balance and subservient, and thereby controlling us indirectly. Kyriarchy plays on your job insecurity and worries about getting a home loan, even as you strive to have an Insta-perfect life and send your child to the best school. And Kyriarchy relies on multiple, intersecting systems that worsen as you move away from my white-bread example above. Kyriarchy is particularly cruel if you do not follow the dominant religion, speak another language and don’t look like your neighbour.Who Gets to Be Smart explores the myriad ways in which knowledge is held and denied and at its heart is the way that systems of power work to keep us always further down, while looking up. It asks to question why we are so fractured, viewing potential friends and allies as competition, while raising up our oppressors as paragons.Throughout Who Gets to Be Smart Lee explores the various mechanisms of centralising power through smarts. We are treated to the dubious history of ‘intelligence’ and intelligence testing, a system that has sought to simplify a complex system and sort us all into our places. School systems and the ongoing battle for funding in Australia comes under the microscope.As the training grounds for the type of institutionalised thinking the book discusses they are incredibly unequally served. Lee gives us the numbers on this iniquity and explores how a country that prides itself on having an egalitarian spirit will also commit to Olympic level mental gymnastics to justify this inequality.Who Gets To Be Smart is an important book for a world that feels forever to be dividing itself along ideological lines, because it seeks to examine how those ideologues got where they are and what maintains their status. It puts in the readers hands a guide to pulling back the curtain.Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Today's show features Katherine Collette discussing her new book The CompetitionThe Competition centres around the Speech Makers annual conference and competition. Frances didn’t enter for the camaraderie, not the opportunity to attend workshops on timing your use of cliches. This year Speech Makers is offering $40,000 to the winner and that would go a long way to setting Frances up and convincing her parents she isn’t failing at life.Keith has mentored Frances in getting this far, but as her competition he can’t reasonably want her to win. The money would be nice, but for Keith the glory of being a Speech Makers champion would finally show people he’s got what it takes.As the competitors line up only to fall each round there’s rumblings that this year there’s more changing in Speech Makers than just prize money. Could it be that the organisation isn’t what it used to be?Join Andrew in conversation with Katherine Collette...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
Amy Remeikis is a political reporter working for Guardian Australia. She is also a regular panelist on Australian TV and perhaps many listeners met her in this capacity recently as she appeared on The Project. Remeikis was appearing to promote her new book On Reckoning and the segment quickly became a prime example of the concept of reckoning that Remeikis explores in her writing.On Reckoning is part of Hachette’s On series. A collection of bite sized books exploring ideas driving our society.In On Reckoning Amy Remeikis explores the evolving public narrative around sexual assault and how survivors of sexual assault are treated. In doing so Remeikis looks at how inadequate our current ways of engaging with sexual assault survivors are and how this inadequacy is leading to a ground swell of anger that is changing the story.Remeikis begins with the moment the Prime Minister responded to allegations that Britany Higgins had been raped in Parliament House. The Prime Minister’s response was contingent on his understanding being conditioned, or perhaps filtered through his relationships as a father and a husband.Remeikis points out that it is simply wrong that women and their safety should be conditional on men having a significant other in their life who can act as the lens through which violence is first understood and then condemned.On Reckoning goes on to explore the inadequacy of a public narrative that cites bad men as perpetrators of sexual assault, in a world where we only seem to know ‘good blokes’.Remeikis points to the statistics of sexual violence and identifies the liklihood that not only do we all know a woman who has been a victim, we also statistically would know a man who has been a perpetrator.The public narrative would have us believe that bad people commit crimes and are caught and punished but in On Reckoning Remeikis is telling us that this is a story that hasn’t had its third act. The anger and pain of women who have been made victims has continued to rage and a new story was needed; one that dealt with the very real and ongoing threats that women dealt with every day.On Reckoning is a combination of reporting, commentary and social philosophy and it arrives at a moment that is both immediate and long developing. It succinctly describes the evolving discussion of how we deal with sexually violent men and the world that has allowed them to escape so often unscathed by their crimes.On Reckoning also highlights for us the failure of our stories; prevailing narratives of the good bloke or the woman who was asking for it, the misunderstanding or the private matter that’s none of our business. It shows us that these stories have allowed crimes to committed as a matter of course and that we can no longer hide behind ignorance and apathy.On Reckoning by Amy Remeikis is out not through HachetteFinal Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Today's show features Linda Jaivin discussing her new book The Shortest History of ChinaLinda Jaivin is an internationally published Australian author, translator, essayist, novelist and specialist writer on China. Her new book is The Shortest History of China, and it’s a fabulously readable account of Chinese history that attempts to take us beyond the partisan headlines and explore the story of the most populous nation in the world.Join Andrew in conversation with Linda Jaivin on The Shortest History of China...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.On today's show Felix Shannon taking over the microphone joined by Michael Burge discussing his new novel Tank WaterJames Brandt didn’t look back when he got away from his rural hometown as a teenager. Now, he’s returned to Kippen for the first time in twenty years because his cousin Tony has been found dead under the local bridge.The news that Tony has left him the entire family farm triggers James’s journalistic curiosity – and his anxiety – both of which cropped up during his turbulent journey to adulthood. But it is the unexpected homophobic attack he survives that draws James into a hunt for the reasons one lonely Kippen farm boy in every generation kills himself.Standing in the way is James’s father, the town’s recently retired top cop, who is not prepared to investigate crimes no one reckons have taken place. James must use every newshound’s trick he ever learned in order to uncover the brutal truth.Felix Shannon is in conversation with Michael Burge on Tank Water...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleFelix Shannon hosts Death of the Reader on 2ser 107.3
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Today's show features Michelle de Kretser discussing her new novel Scary MonstersLili is teaching in southern France in the 1980’s. It’s a thrifty life but she is striving to be like her hero Simone de Beauvoir, strong, independent and free. All around her she sees the divides in society, watching the treatment of African immigrants and wondering at the protections her Australian passport provides her.In a too-near future, Lyle negotiates life both within and without Australian society. Islam is banned and repatriation laws leave three quarters of the population in a state of tense anticipation. Lyle and his family work to be model citizens; virtually invisible to the state. But constant vigilance is not easy and Lyle has dreams. Can he overcome the quirks of family and relationship to climb the social ladder - a perfect quiet Australian.Join Andrew in conversation with Michelle de Kretser on Scary Monsters...Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Today's show features Michelle Kalus and Ali Berg discussing their new novel Fancy Meeting You HereEvie Berry worries about her chances of finding romance after thirty. She’s the co-host of Pasta-la-Visita, a podcast for fans of romance movies but can’t seem to find the meet cute she dreams about.Evie’s hung up on Hugo Hearst, the gorgeous auteur of her favourite novel and film. If only they’d run into each other when he was a struggling writer haunting local cafes.Perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be, until a psychic flips Evie ten years into her past, Now Evie has everything she needs to find Hugo and win his heart.Just like in the movies right?!Join Andrew as he talks with Ali and Michelle about Fancy Meeting You HereFinal Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
For the final book club of the year Andrew sat down after listening to Xmas music to reflect on the way we tell Xmas stories.Whether you celebrate the holiday or just need a break after the year that was, Xmas stories celebrate our survival and our coming together.However you are spending the holiday, we wish you happy reading and and a safe denouement to the year!Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Omar Musa discussing KillernovaToday on the show...Omar Musa is a Malaysian-Australian author, poet and hip hop artist. His debut novel Here Come the Dogs was longlisted for the 2015 Miles Franklin award. Omar is celebrated for his Slam Poetry and spoken word and today joins us with a unique new collection.Killernova combines poetry and woodcarving allowing Omar to explore his heritage and the ongoing tension that exists within Australia and around the world, between indigenous peoples and colonialism.Join me as we discover Omar Musa ’s Killernova...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
We are absolutely at the book end of the year. And I don’t mean that simply as a kind of fun book pun (although it did inadvertently turn out that way). No I meant that this is the time of the year when you finally have the time to do a little reading, our best of lists are coming out (does anyone want a book club best of btw?) and we are buying and reading Xmas stories.Now ghosts and tiny tims are all well and good, but we have a plethora of Xmas tales to contend with and when the book I’ve selected for this week ended up with a little bit of December in it I got to thinking; could this be a Xmas story?What even is a Xmas story?A quick Google pointed me in the direction of nostalgia and holiday hijinks. There has to be a complication but it all gets resolved, and much like Austen, a wedding at the end (or at least a heretofore unlikely snog) doesn’t hurt.And so I present you Michelle Kalus and Ali Berg's Fancy Meeting You HereAli and Michelle are the authors of the international hits The Book Ninja and While You Were Reading. They’re also founders of Books on the Rails which puts books on public transport, just in case your phone battery is on 5%!Fancy Meeting You Here is the epic tale of Evie Berry. Evie thought she would have found romance by thirty. I mean it’s practically her job; she’s the co-host of Pasta-la-Visita, the go-to podcast for fans of romance movies (and carbonara carbs).But Evie’s hung up on Hugo Hearst, the gorgeous auteur of her favourite novel and film. Possibly it was never meant to be. But when a psychic medium helps Evie hurtle ten years into her own past, she has everything she needs to find Hugo and win his heart before he hits the big time.Ok, so far we’ve got some great page turning traits but not a lot of Xmas.The central mcguffin of time travel is simultaneously over the top and just perfect as it sets up the real question of the book; can you manufacture love?And I mean this is relevant. Evie is basically using her knowledge of the past to do what thousands of apps are trying to do by algorithm. She swiping right on Hugo in a big way using info from his yet to exist Wiki!But can you make a love like this last?Well Evie is going to try and she’s going to tweak all the other bits of her life she didn’t get right the first time. It’s a fascinating look at the way we process regret and ambition whilst considering what we really need from life.Evie’s temporally adjusted prescience super charges hers and Hugo’s world but she’s feeling the strain of getting everything she ever dreamed of. Her ability to hold it all together will of course be challenged during the festive season because, well the festive season can be really stressful.So amidst the snow dusted streets of London and fireside chats of the latter part of the novel, could this in fact be a Xmas novel?Whatever your reason Fancy Meeting You Here is a fun and thoughtful novel that might also just pair perfectly with some nog and a mince pie!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today on the show we feature part two of Jennifer Down discussing her new novel Bodies of LightToday on the show...Holly has a simple, but happy life. It’s uncomplicated for a reason and Holly would prefer it stay that way.When a message out of the blue drags Holly into her past, she is shaken. She felt she had escaped, buried the ghosts and become a new person. No one should know who Maggie is but now Holly is faced with the woman she used to be.Trauma is rarely far from the surface and we are thrown into Maggie’s life to revisit all the events that have brought her to where she is today and once caused her to disappear.Join me as we discover Jennifer Down ’s Bodies of Light...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jennifer Down discussing her new novel Bodies of LightToday on the show...Holly has a simple, but happy life. It’s uncomplicated for a reason and Holly would prefer it stay that way.When a message out of the blue drags Holly into her past, she is shaken. She felt she had escaped, buried the ghosts and become a new person. No one should know who Maggie is but now Holly is faced with the woman she used to be.Trauma is rarely far from the surface and we are thrown into Maggie’s life to revisit all the events that have brought her to where she is today and once caused her to disappear.Join me as we discover Jennifer Down ’s Bodies of Light...
Jennifer Down is the award winning author of Our Magic Hour and Pulse Points. Jennifer is one of my favourite Australian authors and so there was quite a bit of anticipation around her new novel Bodies of Light.Suffice to say it’s a complex and moving story. This is the sort of book that takes you on a journey and really, if it’s not too much of a cliche to say, you wonder if you’re the same at the end of it.Maybe I should give you a bit of an idea…Holly has a simple, but happy life. It’s uncomplicated for a reason and Holly would prefer it stay that way.When a message out of the blue drags Holly into her past, she is shaken. She felt she had escaped, buried the ghosts and become a new person. No one should know who Maggie is but now Holly is faced with the woman she used to be.Trauma is rarely far from the surface and we are thrown into Maggie’s life to revisit all the events that have brought her to where she is today and once caused her to disappear.Bodies of Light is a complex and painstakingly realised portrait of a woman. While it is true for any life, in Maggie we see the myriad tragedies and small joys that have dragged up from childhood, through adolescence to become an adult.I barely feel I can talk about these events. There is certainly an element of spoiling the narrative, but really what we are privy to in Bodies of Light is so personal, so complex that it doesn’t feel like my story to just blurt out on air.Maggie’s story and the road she has taken to become Holly; far from her beginnings and without a shred or the person she once was, is more than we would ever wish to know about a friend or acquaintance. In giving us such detail Jennifer Down is inviting us to look at Maggie’s world, her actions and their consequences and understand that people always have their reasons.I’ll admit there were times while reading that I wanted to look away. But then we live in a world that makes it easy to get distracted, to look away when the trauma gets too much.In fictionalising a life Down has provided the reader space to inhabit the world. Into this space she explores the world of out-of-home, the impacts of childhood trauma and the ways these formative experiences impact our adult selves.I remember reading early reviewers and social media responses to Bodies of Light and Jennifer Down responding that maybe this book was a heavy outing while we were all going through, or gradually coming out of lockdowns. But I think that this is just the sort of book to shake us after we’ve all had the time to explore (or avoid) ourselves at such a granular level.This is a book I’ll need to come back to. Not everything can, or should be quick and simple to understand. I started off saying there was some anticipation for me in the arrival of Bodies of Light and I think best ending by replying that the anticipation was worth it ...
Dr Denise Chapman is a counternarrative storyteller, digital media-creator, and spoken word artist who lectures in children’s literature and early literacy at Monash University.Here on Final Draft each week I speak with Australian writers and we explore the ways their stories reflect, explode or are just in conversation with our everyday world. A central thesis is that stories play an integral role in the ways we make sense of our world.Dr Denise Chapman joins us to discuss why representation in literature matters and challenge us to think about what it means when you can't see yourself in the books you read.Want more great conversations with Australian authors?You can hear the full audio for this and many more conversations from Final Draft on 2ser 107.3. Just search for Final Draft 2ser on social media and wherever you get your podcasts.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Inga Simpson discussing her new novel The Last Woman in the WorldToday on the show...Rachel leads a reclusive life on the land. She has an art studio where she blows exquisite collectors pieces. Her daily needs are delivered to her and the isolation is both a boon and a protection from a world that has become too overwhelming.Rachel has cut herself from the daily news cycle of fire, flood and disease. It’s an unchanging litany of destruction that she cannot bear and while the world seemed hellbent on destruction she didn’t expect anything to suddenly change.Rachel is content in her isolation until one night a young mother and her child come knocking. They shouldn’t be there and their mere presence shatters Rachel’s peace. When Hannah reveals they are on the run that it is all gone, Rachel realises the world has seemingly self-destructed…Join me as we discover Inga Simpson ’s The Last Woman in the World...
Today I’ve brought you in a novel that completely surprised me. There’s just something about the concept and the realisation... I ultimately came to view the narrative as… well maybe I won’t tell you too much just yet, suffice to say it skirted through so many ideas and narrative twists that the true nature of Inga Simpson’s The Last Woman in the World really crept up on meInga Simpson's first novel Mr Wigg came out in 2013. Her second novel Nest was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize. Inga’s latest novel is The Last Woman in the World and it takes us to a place both familiar and shockingly different.Rachel leads a reclusive life on the land. She has an art studio where she blows exquisite collectors pieces. Her daily needs are delivered to her and the isolation is both a boon and a protection from a world that has become too overwhelming.Rachel has cut herself from the daily news cycle of fire, flood and disease. It’s an unchanging litany of destruction that she cannot bear and while the world seemed hellbent on destruction she didn’t expect anything to suddenly change.Rachel is content in her isolation until one night a young mother and her child come knocking. They shouldn’t be there and their mere presence shatters Rachel’s peace. When Hannah reveals they are on the run that it is all gone, Rachel realises the world has seemingly self-destructed…First off I’d say that Rachel’s retreat may seem very familiar to all of us who have experienced lockdown recently. It surprised me a little when I interviewed INga that this story came from before Covid and was seeking to explore the destruction of the fires as much as any pandemic chaos.Rachel and Hannah must somehow come together to save Hannah’s baby Isaiah who is sick and far from medical help.As the three venture out into the world they find the landscape of the high country relatively untouched. It is only when they are around populated areas that they feel the true horror of what the world has become.When I spoke with Inga Simpson for this week’s Final Draft she told me about the pleasure of the unseen and its ability to truly terrify us by reflecting our own fears…Inga Simpson’s The Last Women in the World is many things. The untouched landscapes of the early novel are something of a travelogue for the Snowies and set up a strange state of calm. Rachel’s unfolding story offers insight into the toll the world can have on our mental health. As we approach the towns though the true horror emerges and grips the reader with the terror of unknown possibilityBut perhaps it is in showing us a world that may just be that the Last Woman in the World serves as a warning and an opportunity to glimpse how close we have come to catastrophe.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part two of the conversation with Mark Smith discussing his new novel If Not Us and just a warning there are some spoilers for the plot of If Not Us coming upToday on the show...The beautiful coastal town of Shelbourne is full of contradictions.For seventeen year old Hesse it’s the only home he knows. Hesse lives for the waves that break off the myriad banks and reefs along the coast. Hesse works at the local surf shop and doesn’t need much else.But just outside the town is the Hadron open cut mine and power station. Hadron employs most of the town and they fund all the local sports teams and the surf club.Hesse hadn’t given much thought to the power station and what it’s putting into the air. His mum’s a nurse and she knows that there’s more than the usual amount of respiratory disease in the local area. Imogen’s also a part of the local climate action group and Hesse is about to learn first hand the dangers to his beloved coast.Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Mark Smith discussing his new novel If Not UsToday on the show...The beautiful coastal town of Shelbourne is full of contradictions.For seventeen year old Hesse it’s the only home he knows. Hesse lives for the waves that break off the myriad banks and reefs along the coast. Hesse works at the local surf shop and doesn’t need much else.But just outside the town is the Hadron open cut mine and power station. Hadron employs most of the town and they fund all the local sports teams and the surf club.Hesse hadn’t given much thought to the power station and what it’s puting into the air. His mum’s a nurse and she knows that there’s more than the usual amount of respiratory disease in the local area. Imogen’s also a part of the local climate action group and Hesse is about to learn first hand the dangers to his beloved coast.Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Mark Smith is the award winning author of the Winter Trilogy of novels. In these books Mark established himself as a writer of exciting and insightful young adult fiction. The collection spans a post apocalyptic Australian coastline. Finn must continue surviving after the breakdown of society following a devastating virus… and ok, this isn’t a discussion about The Road to Winter and it’s follow ups but you can already see that Mark Smith has his eye on a far too close for comfort tale..Mark’s new novel is If Not Us and it follows in the Winter Trilogy’s footsteps of smart storytelling focussed on the resourcefulness of his young protagonists and the sort of hope we can place in future generations.The beautiful coastal town of Shelbourne is full of contradictions.For seventeen year old Hesse it’s the only home he knows. Hesse lives for the waves that break off the myriad banks and reefs along the coast. Hesse works at the local surf shop and doesn’t need much else.But just outside the town is the Hadron open cut mine and power station. Hadron employs most of the town and they fund all the local sports teams and the surf club.Hesse hadn’t given much thought to the power station and what it’s puting into the air. His mum’s a nurse and she knows that there’s more than the usual amount of respiratory disease in the local area. Imogen’s also a part of the local climate action group and Hesse is about to learn first hand the dangers to his beloved coast.The first thing If Not Us hits you with is the small town vibe. Hesse biking to the beach and back is all I needed to feel the sand between my toes and know that this is one of those special places. Through Hesse’s naive perspective we almost come to believe that life could be a little bit of work and lots of waves.When Hesse lines up that first wave you could just imagine one clean ride straight in to the beach. That’s until a local drops in on him and knocks him out for his trouble. The peace of the ocean can’t account for human damage and Hesse knows if he wants something he has to fight for it.If Not Us works to frame the fight between the locals employed by the mine and the environmental group as something more than simply bad vs good. Hesse is friends with kids whose parents work at the mine. Everyone in town is touched in some way by the prosperity the mine’s employment brings.The story doesn’t try to save the world, so much as look at how individuals can act and how those actions resonate locally and globally.When Hesse meets the new exchange student Fenna he starts to see what is happening in his town from a bigger perspective. He knows he’s just one kid, but Fenna shows him how kids across the world are doing big things.Mark’s writing is fast and punchy (really punchy - surfing is dangerous) He weaves his tale around just a few short weeks and opens up a world that will be familiar to most Australians. His setting and its inhabitants remind us that this problem is both simple and complicated; we know what we have to do to reduce emissions but if we don’t do it together people get left behind. If Not Us shows us that if no one is going to lead the way there’s an incredible group of young leaders who aren’t going to wait to be invited…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kay Kerr discussing her new novel Social QueueToday on the show...Zoe life is looking up. High school’s over and she’s landed her dream job, interning at online media company Bubble.Getting here took work though. High school left Zoe burnt out, she was bullied because she’s autistic, and even without the bullying sometimes it was all too much attention, too much misplaced sympathy for her neurodiversity.Zoe knows she missed out on some stuff. So when the opportunity comes to write about navigating the world of online dating Zoe can barely imagine what’s in store for her!Embarking on a series of dates to unlock the social secrets of modern love, Zoe is challenging herself to really think about what she wants in a friend and a partner.Join me as we discover Kay Kerr ’s Social Queue...
Usually I’m bringing you the best new Australian fiction to brighten your day, help bolster your beach reads and update you on the important stories. But stories are everywhere in our culture.Over on Final Draft through November I’m doing a special series on the ways storytelling works in our daily lives. I’m taking new books and speaking to their authors; journalists, historians and commentators, and getting their insight into the ways we tell stories to shape our reality. And we do this for a few reasons;The right story can help justify your position, it can shout down your opponent and legitimise a platform. Stories can even be encapsulated in a single word. As we’ll explore through the series, something as simple as ‘larrikin’ can soften the edges of power and make it look appealing.Today I’ve brought you The Brumby Wars - The Battle for the Soul of Australia by Anthony SharwoodAnthony is a Walkley Award-winning journalist. He loves the high country and his 2020 book From Snow to Ash, is a love letter to the Australian High Country. The Brumby Wars is his third book and it takes in the history and scope of the ongoing battles between supporters of wild horses in the Australian Bush and those who see the destruction they cause to fragile ecosystems.The book takes an open approach to the debate, trying to hear all sides. Sharwood confronts the challenges of confronting and contrasting the scientific and ecological understanding of feral horses with the cultural understanding of Brumbies. With surveys noting that 78% of Victorians didn’t know that Brumbies were listed by Parks Victoria as pests Sharwood comes to the conclusion that “Mythology has become reality” and the power of storytelling has overtaken the reality of what is happening in the landscape. But in this space, a battle that literally plays out on Mountains and in the halls of political power, Sharwood sounds a warning against tilting towards extremes. The Brumby Wars is a fascinating look at modern Australian culture. It takes in thousands of years of Indigenous History and the extraordinary damage done in the relatively short period since invasion.The book even questions the ways stories can be co opted to the cause. One mythology that is central to the story of brumbies in the high country is the work of Banjo Patterson and particularly his poem The Man From Snowy River. In the book Sharwood uncovers scholarship that suggests the eponymous ‘Man’ may have been Indigenous. This may seem an historical footnote to the everyday destruction of hooves on fragile ecosystems but it speaks to the lengths that storytelling may go to shape reality to its own ends.This is just a taste of what you’ll find in The Brumby Wars. It’s no hyperbole when the subtitle proclaims this The Battle for the Soul of Australia. Do yourself a favour and check it out…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Karen Manton discussing her debut novel The Curlew's EyeToday on the show...Greta and Joel have a good life travelling with their boys, they go where the work is and enjoy the adventure of the road.As they return to the land where Joel grew up Greta looks forward to a more stable existence, perhaps somewhere they can settle. The homestead is on an isolated property in the Northern Territory, a burnout house surrounded by the skeletons of old cars. Joel’s there to build and to prepare the land for sale, and he seems to want to ignore the tragedy that happened there in his childhood.Greta too is avoiding her own hometown and secrets. But in this new place she’s conscious that she is an outsider in the landscape; she has her stories, but the land has its own.Join me as we discover Karen Manton ’s The Curlew's Eye...
Kay Kerr is a former journalist and newspaper editor from Brisbane. Her debut novel is the widely acclaimed Please Don’t Hug Me.Social Queue introduces us to Zoe.Zoe has Autism and that means her everyday can be tough. Social spaces aren’t designed for her and this forces her to navigate a world of noise, bustle and crowds that leaves her exhausted. Worse, people just expect her to be ok with these things and that adds another layer of exhaustion as Zoe must choose to explain her discomfort or hide until she can feel safe.But now Zoe’s finished school and landed her dream internship at Bubble, an online media company. After the hell of high school, this is Zoe’s chance to greet life on her terms.And her first story pitch is a huge success!Dating was a non-event for Zoe at school and when she writes about all the missed opportunities, she’s overwhelmed with likes; including a few secret crushes.Zoe embarks on a fact finding mission. By talking to each of her secret crushes she’s hoping to piece together exactly how love and dating is supposed to work and who knows, maybe love is still on the cards with someone?There’s a moment in Social Queue where Zoe is trying to figure out why things can’t just be a bit easier for her, and she talks about the social model of disability. The social model of disability is a theoretical framework that respects people’s individual differences and identifies disabilities as the product of barriers in society.When a wheelchair user requires the modification of a ramp, it’s no different to a non-wheelchair user requiring the modification of stairs. We’re all trying to get to the next level, it’s just some of us have the privilege of having barriers removed without us even being aware of it.In Zoe’s case she has to puzzle over the potential cues and signals she missed from crushes. Her life at school was a swamp of sensory overload and bullying that meant she didn’t have the emotional energy for much else. But now as she revisits old friends and even bullies who claim they really liked her she must negotiate the toxic world of what we do, or say we do, in the name of love.Zoe is an extraordinary character to travel along with as she takes this journey. Kerr’s writing is such that we feel instantly connected moving from her internal to external world effortlessly. As Zoe meets up with friends, bullies and passing acquaintances we are confronted by the ways that we all try to negotiate love and affection. There’s a particularly effective scene where a old crush describes a series of innocuous actions he took to get her attention. She is baffled, as I suspect you would be too dear reader, that somehow these amounted to a declaration of love. Zoe may have missed the cues, but the question we all are left asking is how anyone ever falls in love if we’re going to be this obtuse.The reader's connection with Zoe is of the type that we might feel that we relate to Zoe’s experience. This felt deliberate on Kerr’s part. Our closeness to Zoe invites us to share and relate to her experience but also challenges us to recognise that these are barriers thrown up against her as an Autistic person (Zoe’s preferred language).Throughout the novel Zoe works with her colleagues at Bubble, as well as with friends and her newly discovered old crushes, to educate them about the way disability is framed in society. We see the real emotional burden she shoulders and the toll it takes on her.Social Queue invites us into Zoe’s world and gives us privileged access to her life. We see her triumph and also her suffering but are asked to understand not pity.Coming back to the social model of disability I mentioned at the top. Having to talk about, explain and justify their very existence is a burden too often placed on people living with a disability. In the Social Queue we see the lived experience of this but also the ways that Zoe and her close group work together to make her life something wonderful.I love Kay Kerr’s books for their wonderful characters and their heartfelt elucidation of life. Reading Social Queue makes me infinitely glad that I’m not on the apps, but also that there is a wonderful world of love out there for people who take the time for each other...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Maxine Beneba Clarke discussing her new poetry collection How Decent Folk BehaveToday on the show...Maxine Beneba Clarke is an author of short fiction, non fiction and poetry. She won the Victorian Premier’s literary award for poetry in 2017 for her collection Carrying the World,Her short story collection Foreign Soil, masterfully captures voices from marginalised communities, winning the ABIA for Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2015 and the 2015 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction.Maxine Beneba Clarke’s new collection of poetry, How Decent Folk Behave, once again highlights Clarke’s ear for voices and ability to tell stories with empathy and insight.I cannot wait to share this conversation with you. Maxine has even generously agreed to share a poem from the collectionJoin me as we discover Maxine Beneba Clarke ’s How Decent Folk Behave...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Maxine Beneba Clarke discussing her new poetry collection How Decent Folk BehaveToday on the show...Maxine Beneba Clarke is an author of short fiction, non fiction and poetry. She won the Victorian Premier’s literary award for poetry in 2017 for her collection Carrying the World,Her short story collection Foreign Soil, masterfully captures voices from marginalised communities, winning the ABIA for Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2015 and the 2015 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction.Maxine Beneba Clarke’s new collection of poetry, How Decent Folk Behave, once again highlights Clarke’s ear for voices and ability to tell stories with empathy and insight.I cannot wait to share this conversation with you. Maxine has even generously agreed to share a poem from the collectionJoin me as we discover Maxine Beneba Clarke ’s How Decent Folk Behave...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Maxine Beneba Clarke is an author of short fiction, non fiction and poetry. She won the Victorian Premier’s literary award for poetry in 2017 for her collection Carrying the World,Her short story collection Foreign Soil, masterfully captures voices from marginalised communities, winning the ABIA for Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2015 and the 2015 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction.Maxine Beneba Clarke’s new collection of poetry, How Decent Folk Behave, once again highlights Clarke’s ear for voices and ability to tell stories with empathy and insight.The collection opens with When the Decade Broke; a sprawling poem that takes in those moments of seemingly endless possibility as we sit collectively holding our breath each new year's eve. The poem examines the fears and realities we all faced as we stared down the millennium. As Y2K gave way to the war on terror we all seemingly had a ‘new normal’ thrust upon us. Again in 2019 as bushfires ringed us in both cities and towns we had little insight of even greater captivity and restraint that would challenge our sense of self. When the Decade Broke reminds us that it’s ok to not be ok and flips these harsh reminiscences with the line ‘but that all slowly started to change’. Clarke is able to tell us of a place where these things are our past.And so the scene is set. The poems in this collection will be brief or they will be epic. They will capture voices of the city and the regions and they will unflinchingly speak to the violence and privation, the microaggressions and the outright calamity of blatant abuse of power and privelege.The poem Something Sure gives the collection its name. A mother addresses her son in the wake of the murder of Hannah Clarke. The mother talks to her son about How Decent Folk Behave and his responsibilities as a man...your mama needs to knowthat a good man,exactly the man you’ll be,will lead a bad man homeThis poem left me devastated. There is simply no answer to such a call to action other than to look inward and ask whether you are equal to the task.How Decent Folk behave sees our excuses and our weasel words and speaks to us in plain language. It knowsYou don’t wannaThink too muchAbout the year that wasBut also sees that “there is hope, in little things”How Decent Folk Behave launches this week and I couldn’t wait to bring this in for you all. The poems are a tonic to feelings of malaise and that stupefaction we’re all kinda feeling when we realise we have to relearn how to be social and in a crowd.I’d love to invite you all to tune in this Saturday. Maxine will be my guest on Final Draft and she’ll be doing a reading from How Decent Folk Behave. Trust me it’s a must hear!Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Larrikins occupy a revered space in Australian culture. Variously knockabout blokes, outlaws or rebels, larrikins can seemingly get away with anything and do it with a smile. A larrikin is the sort of bloke who'd steal the wool off your sheep and then ask you to knit him a jumper he'd quickly pull over your eyes.Lech Blaine is the author of the new Quarterly Essay 'Top Blokes - The Larrikin Myth, Class and Power'.In this special preview Lech joins Andrew to discuss the evolution of the larrikin and try to pinpoint the moment when larrikinism got co-opted by powerful forces.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sarah Bailey discussing her new thriller The HousemateToday on the show...In 2005 Oli Groves’ life is a hot mess. She’s comfortably bouncing between partying and life as a junior reporter. So it is one morning when she stumbles into possibly the biggest story of her life, the notorious Housemate Homicide.Ten years later, Oli looks like she’s got it all. On paper.That is until the Housemate Homicide case is reignited when one of the missing housemates turns up dead, dragging up ghosts from the past.And Oli is learning that paper may not have the future she thought it did.Join me as we discover Sarah Bailey ’s The Housemate...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
2SER is the place where so many amazing things happen! It's the place where we share incredible music. It's the place where listeners can hear independent news and current affairs. It's the place where journalists get their start.And it's the place where you connect with the latest in Australian books, writing and literary culture on Final Draft!Head over to 2ser.com to become a supporter and tune in for Radiothon October 11-24
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features James Roxburgh discussing his debut novel The Banksia House Breakout Today on the show...Since the death of her husband Ray, Michael has felt his mother Ruth is struggling to manage. He’s arranged a room for her at Banksia House and sold the family home. When Michael delivers Ruth to Banksia House; he doesn’t think she can look after herself and he doesn’t want to be bothered with it.But Ruth has a mission; she has to get to Brisbane to farewell her oldest friend. With no money and no car though it won’t be easy.So Ruth and her new friends Beryl and Jean hatch a planJoin me as we discover James Roxburgh ’s The Banksia House Breakout...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Today I’ve got an exciting True Crime fiction that hits all the highs, is clever and suspenseful and has a lot to say about our world whilst harkening us back to the 90’s. Ruth McIver's I Shot the DevilRuth McIver is a Dublin born, Melbourne based writer. She won the 2018 Richell Prize for an emerging writer and the product of that win is her new novel I Shot the Devil.I suppose you’d say I like true crime about as much as the next person. I listened to the first season of Serial, I’ve had a look at In Cold Blood. But on the whole I’m not a True Crime obsessive.One exception to that though seems to be true crime fiction.You probably just did a double take. Surely there’s true crime and then there’s fictional crime (which usually just gets called crime - go figure) But as any genre or style takes hold it is bound to inspire imitators, homages and people who understand the potential of one text to operate within the broader style of another (thank you postmodernism).So we have true crime fiction… following an investigation or digging up a cold case. Our protagonist will not be a sleuth but will have the nous to dig up information and often they will be working on a podcast (because aren’t we all these days).If you’re currently watching Only Murders in the Building you know exactly what I’m talking about…In I Shot the Devil, Reporter Erin Sloane returns to her home town of Southport. Her Dad’s dying and although though they haven’t always had the best relationship, he’s her only family. This is no nostalgia trip though. Erin’s editor has received a tip off about the notorious Southport Three, a group of teens implicated in a satanic murder in the 90s.Erin’s charged to write a story about the group and their legacy. It’s the sort of story that could make her career. But Erin is also a part of the story; she hasn’t told her editor that back in high school she was dating one of the killers.I shot the Devil immediately flips the oft repeated trope of most crime, true or otherwise. The victims of the historical crime are not women, but two young men. Erin’s role in digging up the past forces her to confront the trauma of the time and we see that the inevitable deadly exercise of power spreads far and wide.One aspect of the I Shot the Devil that is immediately compelling is the blurring of the true and (well also) true crime genre tropes. If you’ve got a murder mystery well you know there are rules - final act denouement and all that. True Crime owes us no neat conclusions though. When we join the reporter or the podcaster we know there’s every chance that all their efforts might lead to naught. Erin makes this increasingly likely with her self destructive behaviour.So if crime fiction gives us the illusion of order and justice in the world, what is it that we turn to true crime for? And how might a fictionalising of true crime enhance that experience?I think True Crime entices us with the eternal possibility of justice, There’s a lot of bad things happening in the world; powerful people seem to be able to act with impunity and escape all consequences. True Crime shows us that in an information saturated world the truth exists for those who are willing to search.In Ruth McIver’s I Shot the Devil we see that search in its broader literary sense. The stories we tell help make us who we are. Erin’s quest has as much to do with seeking justice for her friend as seeking to honour a story that has been buried.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Tobias Madden discussing his debut novel Anything But FineToday on the show...One moment. That’s all it takes to topple Luca’s dream of joining the Australian Ballet School. One misstep and Luca is propelled from Arabesques to Netflix with no chill in a Moonboot on the couch.Luca thinks losing Ballet means losing himself. It was basically his whole identity.Now he’s at North; no friends, no dance and a lot of homophobia from the jocks. But then there’s the cute guy at Luca’s OT appointments. Perhaps the cascade of events of that misstep will show Luca there was always so much more to life than he’d imagined...Join me as we discover Tobias Madden ’s Anything But Fine...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Today I have brought in what I think more than a few of us need… a north coast road trip for the mind featuring lovable heroes and easy to hate villains. I can’t promise life will always be this straightforward, but indulge with me in the world of The Banksia House Breakout and enjoy a few days in the sun.The Banksia House Breakout is the debut novel for James Roxburgh. James is an audiologist specialising in the care of the elderly and has used his caring eye to create some compelling characters that challenge our stereotypes of aging.The Banksia House Breakout opens with a quintessentially Sydney scene. An auctioneer slams the gavel on another million dollar sale.Immediately the reader gets the impression that something is amiss. The owner of the bungalow in Ryde is not happy. Ruth has sold her home on the advice of her son Michael. Since the death of her husband, Michael has felt that Ruth is struggling to manage. He’s arranged a room for her at Banksia House and the family home and all its contents have to go.From its cover The Banksia House Breakout looks a twee, feel good romp but I can tell you that it’s opening chapters are dark. And while they are redeemed by some genuine feel good moments, it’s clear that James Roxburgh wants to understand something about the ways that older Australians are treated, or perhaps more aptly, how they are too often relegated into a kind of waiting room to the lives of their significant others.On arriving in Bankia House Ruth makes friends but also enemies. Discovering a clique of ladies in the breakfast room they quickly warn her of Glenn, a nurse whom all the residents fear.Ruth wakes the next morning to Glenn rifling through her things searching for loot. Glenn’s threats are quickly followed by the news that Ruth’s best friend is dying in Brisbane. And so hatches a plan; Ruth and her new friend Beryl must steal a car and get to Brisbane, via Coffs to scatter Beryl’s husband’s ashes, for Ruth to see her friend one more time.I started The Banksia House Breakout kinda hating it. I was getting so angry at Ruth’s son Michaal for his indifferent treatment of his mother, Glenn is just hideous and I wondered how on earth anything positive could emerge as we were being shown so effectively that these people simply had no agency in their lives.And it was just as I was ranting again about these characters that I realised I had developed a connection to the world of the novel and the anger I was feeling was because I knew that these were real situations that some older Australians faced.I don’t know about you but I don’t often start yelling about books. Back when I was able to sit in at cafes or catch a train, I knew a book got me when I had to put it down and wipe away a tear. Well now my cats can assure you The Banksia House Breakout is the real deal because it will have you responding, like it or not.I’m not going to tell you more about Ruth and Beryl’s escape. Suffice to say that it’s eventful.This book hits all the right notes for a rollicking tale. You’ll probably see a few of the twists coming but that doesn’t mean they’re not still satisfying.And as you following the septuagenarians on their adventures watch the reactions and the stereotypes that are invoked. Sure plenty of old men are probably working hard to destroy the world but others are trying to continue incredible lives of value and respect, and constantly being underestimated will only lead to them stealing our cars and joining up with bikies on the Pacific Highway.James Roxburgh’s The Banksia House Breakout is out now and if you want to discover more James will be joining me on FInal Draft in the coming weeks. This week on the show I have a terrific debut YA from Tobias Madden, Anything But Fine
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Catherine Jinks discussing her new novel The AttackToday on the show...Robyn lives a quiet life on her heritage protected island. It’s once a month she has to deal with the noise of teenagers arriving for a boot camp aimed to help them back on track. The veterans running the camp run a tight ship but something is different this time. There are strange, malicious pranks being pulled, and Robyn is sure she recognises one of the boys from a dark chapter of her past...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Catherine Jinks discussing her incredibly prolific careerToday on the show...Catherine Jinks is a writer of immense range. Her work has won gongs as diverse as the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, Australian Book Council Award, the Aurealis and the Davitt Award for Crime Fiction…In this special bonus Catherine discusses her career and some of the things she's learned writing.
- Warning! Heavy Spoilers!!If you haven't already read I Shot the Devil approach with cautionIn this bonus episode Ruth explores her rules around cats and dangerous plotlines. There's some interesting discussion around what readers expect from male and female characters in a thriller and also way more discussion of Axl Rose than I think anyone was expecting!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Ruth McIver discussing her new novel I Shot the DevilToday on the show...Reporter Erin Sloane returns to her home town of Southport. Her Dad’s sick and though they haven’t always had the best relationship, he’s her only family. This is no nostalgia trip though. Erin’s editor wanmts her to report on the notorious Southport Three, a group of teens implicated in a satanic murder in the 90s.Erin’s going to write a story about the group and their legacy, but Erin is also a part of the story; she hasn’t told her editor she was dating one of the killers.Will the past stay buried once Erin starts digging?!Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Max Easton discussing his new novel The Magpie WingToday on the show...Walt, Helen and Duncan are growing up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. Walt and Duncan are paired on the footy field. Duncan serves as Walt’s protector, while Walt explores his precocious footballing talent. Rugby League is tribal for the boys and their families and they know that they'd rather live in the legacy of the likes of Tommy Raudonikas than the silvertails in the east. Walt’s older sister Helen can’t play with the boys but she can run water and plays to the team.As the three grow up together they each start looking for more than their suburban existence offers.As their family life breaks down Walt and Helen gravitate towards Sydney's Inner West. There they find underground success in the punk and noise music scene, and Walt is able to explore his growing political consciousness.Duncan stays at home, diligently completing uni and finds himself in a more conventional job.As the three criss-cross each other's lives they find themselves with contradictory purposes and opaque goals. Always present though is where they came from and how being from the west defines them in other people’s eyes.Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Max Easton discussing his new novel The Magpie WingToday on the show...Walt, Helen and Duncan are growing up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. Walt and Duncan are paired on the footy field. Duncan serves as Walt’s protector, while Walt explores his precocious footballing talent. Rugby League is tribal for the boys and their families and they know that they'd rather live in the legacy of the likes of Tommy Raudonikas than the silvertails in the east. Walt’s older sister Helen can’t play with the boys but she can run water and plays to the team.As the three grow up together they each start looking for more than their suburban existence offers.As their family life breaks down Walt and Helen gravitate towards Sydney's Inner West. There they find underground success in the punk and noise music scene, and Walt is able to explore his growing political consciousness.Duncan stays at home, diligently completing uni and finds himself in a more conventional job.As the three criss-cross each other's lives they find themselves with contradictory purposes and opaque goals. Always present though is where they came from and how being from the west defines them in other people’s eyes.Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.2ser.com/final-draft
Today I’ve got a book that’s pure Sydney.Max Easton is a writer, musician and podcaster from Western Sydney.His debut novel The Magpie Wing comes out this week and I’m just going to keep saying it; this is a sucky time to be an artist creating because it is so hard to get your art out there. The Magpie Wing is a sprawling narrative taking in the geography and the history or Sydney and its subcultures and if you miss walking around the streets of your town and getting out to see bands and drinks in beer gardens; well The Magpie Wing might just be the next best thing.Starting us off in the 90sWalt, Helen and Duncan are growing up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. Walt and Duncan are paired on the footy field. Duncan serves as Walt’s protector, while Walt explores his precocious footballing talent. Rugby League is tribal for the boys and their families and they know that they’s rather live in the legacy of the likes of Tommy Raudonikas than the silvertails in the east. Walt’s older sister Helen can’t play with the boys but she can run water and plays to the team.As the three grow up together they each start looking for more than their suburban existence offers.As their family life breaks down Walt and Helen gravitate towards Sydney's Inner West. There they find underground success in the punk and noise music scene, and Walt is able to explore his growing political consciousness.Duncan stays at home, diligently completing uni and finds himself in a more conventional job.As the three criss-cross each other's lives they find themselves with contradictory purposes and opaque goals. Always present though is where they came from and how bening from the west defines them in other people’s eyes.The Magpie Wing is a compelling story told in a matter of fact, almost deadpan tone. Spanning three decades and taking in much more of Sydney’s history and east west divide the storytelling avoids nostalgia as assiduously as it avoids taking sides despite its characters strongly held beliefs.Exploring classicism, gentrification, punk ethos and the ever present danger of selling out The Magpie Wing cuts its politics with humour and is not afraid to pull the rug out from under itself.I think there’s plenty for any Sydneysider to recognise in The Magpie Wing and plenty more to learn, because in our so-called City of Villages people are rarely from more than one place and by virtue a tourist everywhere else they go.Max Easton’s The Magpie Wing is brand new. It’s out this week from Giramondo who are a fabulous independent publisher of poetry, fiction and non-fiction.If you want to hear more about The Magpie Wing, Max Easton is joining me on the show this Saturday morning. He’s a terrific guy to chat to so tune in and he’s also a great muso so I might even get some tunes up on the show...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Mette Jakobsen discussing her new novel The WingmakerToday on the show...As the novel begins Vega arrives at the dilapidated Seafarers Hotel. Isolated, surrounded by farms and ocean, the hotel promises to be the perfect location to restore the angel with broken wings, her most ambitious project yet. It is not long though before a naked man wearing a crown, dive bombing canaries and a local tango party threaten to ruin the solitude Vega is craving.Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
This week on Final Draft I had the great pleasure and privilege of speaking with Tony Birch. Tony is an author, an activist, an academic, a poet and essayist. Tony’s 2019 novel The White Girl about a grandmother striving to protect her granddaughter from the racist policy of removing children from their families, is still widely discussed.Tony and I were speaking because he has two new books out. A collection of poetry entitled Whisper Songs, and a short story collection Dark as Last Night. This is an incredible feat and one that is incredibly difficult in the current climate of lockdown where none of us can wander the shelves of our favourite booksellers and happen upon new works that we might like to explore.Tony’s work moved me to tear with its heart, its willingness to go into the dark places of our society and the zest and verve of its language. So I want to keep championing these incredible new Australian releases because these books need to be discovered…Just remember if you’re loving any of the books we talk about on Book Club - get in touch with your local independent bookseller and order a copy. They are your best resource for discovering new books and need our support at this time...In the eponymous story that opens the collection, Dark As Last Night Birch details a dark tale of domestic abuse. A young girl flees her home as her father becomes violent and is taken in by the strange lady next door.There she learns that this woman is not so strange, so much as she is independent of those minds who would stay silent. A refugee from Europe she has learned that “People say nothing and others die. It is that simple.”Operating almost as a type of fairy tale we are opened up to a world where this girl has a choice in her own fate.Tony Birch’s stories have a way of giving voice to things that we are too often not talking about.In the story Bobby Moses, a small town cop watches an old aboriginal man walking into the town he patrols. Knowing the predominantly white population will disapprove of this incursion the cop questions what to do.While giving the man a ride he learns that Bobby Moses has returned to a town he has no memory of. Taken from a mother he can now only visit in the town’s cemetery Bobby is seeking to reconnect with his land.Each of the stories in Dark as Last Night offer up stitches in a fabric of our social connectedness. These are who we are from the dispossessed and the victimised, to the violent and the racist.Tony Birch tells us these stories in an engaging way that leaves the reader to judge where they stand. I loved the stories in Dark as Last Night as I did the poetry of Whisper Songs.If you’re looking for a stellar read, check out these collections and support local artists!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Tony Birch discussing his latest a collection of poetry entitled Whisper Songs, and a short story collection Dark as Last Night.Today on the show...The works in Whisper Songs & Dark as Last Night explore themes both personal and universal. Tony writes around the death of his brother, moving into memory to understand loss and carrying on.The poetry of Whisper Songs explore language; the ways we use it to express and to hide our inner world. Tony explores through archival excerpts and reworkings how language is harnessed as a weapon against indigenous people; to strip them of their humanity and place them within the society that has stolen so much from them.Join me as we discover Tony Birch’s Whisper Songs & Dark as Last Night...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
There is a long tradition in times of adversity that we read mysteries to divert ourselves from the challenges of our daily lives. Back in the interwar period of the 1920’s & 30’s Agatha Christie became a legend. Taking readers into little towns and intercontinental trains to solve a variety of cunning murders.It’s a more complicated world, so maybe we need a darker, more nuanced voice. JP Pomare has a way of delivering, and right now when we can’t go anywhere, he’s crafted a thriller that will make you terrified of staying in any type of house share.That’s right, this week’s book club is J.P. Pomare’s new thriller The Last GuestsJP Pomare is the author of Call Me Evie, Tell Me Lies and In the Clearing. He has won the Ngaio Marsh award and is shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award this year so you don’t have to trust me that he’s good; he’s got the trophies to back it up.As The Last Guests begins, a nondescript man enters a holiday accommodation in Auckland with bags full of electrical equipment. Hours later he leaves with empty suitcases. Another Peephole stream has gone live.On the other side of Auckland Cain and Lina are doing it tough. Cain hasn’t had much work since he was injured in combat and he wants Lina to put her family home up on WeStay - an online accommodation app. Lina’s not too sure though. All her childhood memories are in that home and who knows what terrors a guest could inflict on that nostalgia?Like I said, right when we can’t travel anyway, The Last Guests delivers a narrative that shows us the potential nightmare fuel our stays could become.Building on the growing world of surveillance we already live with, The Last Guests shows us a hidden world of voyeurs who tap into cameras to watch your most intimate moments.Our protagonist Lina has a secret and when she is caught in the web of Peephole, she is confronted with how easy it would be for her whole world to come crumbling down.The Last Guests mixes thriller, paranoia and just the right amount of mystery. We know what Lina has to hide but we don’t know enough about who is threatening her.The novel crafts building tension that erupts into an horrific climax… and that’s just the halfway point. We are then treated with a classic as Lina tries to repair the pieces of her life and make sense of what has happened to her.I was genuinely terrified and perplexed as I rocketed through The Last Guests. It’s a cliché to say it kept me guessing to the last turn, but there’s a reason why we return to clichés.What more can I say about a writer whose work hinges on the unknown? It sucks that we’re stuck between the same four walls for the foreseeable future but J.P. Pomare’s work promises to make you feel like you’ve run a mile on every page. Oh and trust me… it will also make you very thankful for the comfort and safety of your own home.Loved this review?You can hear the full audio for this and many more conversations from Final Draft. Just search for Final Draft 2ser on social media and wherever you get your podcasts. Get more books, writing and literary culture every week on the Final Draft Great Conversations podcast. Hear interviews with authors and discover your next favourite read!https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode is part two of a panel discussion on the new collection from Sweatshop Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry. In part two of our discussion Shirley, Tyree and Amani explore public and personal responses to racism. We looking at the process of unlearning and discuss how to approach instances of racism in everyday life.Sweatshop are a literacy movement out of Western Sydney. They work to empower culturally and linguistically diverse communities through writing.Sweatshop have an impressive library of works and the latest is Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry.Asking the question ‘Is Australia a Racist Country?’ Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry explores well understood as well as more covert iterations of racist behaviour as well as the ways institutions prop up dominant culture ways of thinking and being.Tyree Barnette is an American transplant originally from North Carolina. He is a member of Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement. His writing has been published in SBS voices, and other sweatshop anthologies. He is currently developing his debut novel.Shirley Le is a Vietnamese-Australian writer from Yagoona. She is a Creative Producer at Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement. Her short stories and essays have been published in Kill Your Darlings, The Griffith Review, Meanjin and several Sweatshop anthologies. Shirley is currently working on her debut novel with Affirm Press.Amani Haydar is a lawyer, artist and writer. Her writing and illustrations have been featured on ABC News Online, SBS Voices, Arab Australian Other and Sweatshop Women. Amani was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize. Her debut novel, The Mother Wound, is out now.Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry is available through www.sweatshop.wsWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser... 2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode is part one of a panel discussion on the new collection from Sweatshop Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and BigotrySweatshop are a literacy movement out of Western Sydney. They work to empower culturally and linguistically diverse communities through writing.Sweatshop have an impressive library of works and the latest is Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry.Asking the question ‘Is Australia a Racist Country?’ Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry explores well understood as well as more covert iterations of racist behaviour as well as the ways institutions prop up dominant culture ways of thinking and being.Tyree Barnette is an American transplant originally from North Carolina. He is a member of Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement. His writing has been published in SBS voices, and other sweatshop anthologies. He is currently developing his debut novel.Shirley Le is a Vietnamese-Australian writer from Yagoona. She is a Creative Producer at Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement. Her short stories and essays have been published in Kill Your Darlings, The Griffith Review, Meanjin and several Sweatshop anthologies. Shirley is currently working on her debut novel with Affirm Press.Amani Haydar is a lawyer, artist and writer. Her writing and illustrations have been featured on ABC News Online, SBS Voices, Arab Australian Other and Sweatshop Women. Amani was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize. Her debut novel, The Mother Wound, is out now.Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry is available through www.sweatshop.wsWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser... 2ser.com/final-draft
The Other Half of You is situated firmly within Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s body of work. Beginning with The Tribe and following through The Lebs we discover unfolding the story of Bani Adam. Bani is a young Lebanese Australian man. He is an Alawite Muslim; a member of a family, a tribe, but also a young man trying to figure out where he belongs in a contradictory society that does not seem to make room for men like himThe Other Half of You is a continuation of this quest for identity both as an individual and within his family and his religion. It’s also a beautiful love letter written by a man to his young son.The story opens with a kind of invocation. Bani tells his son Khalil “You brought me here, now let me take you back” and so begins a story at times serious, at times hilarious, moving through Bani’s exploration of the world where he lives.A place situated in time; young Lebanese men felt the stigma of being branded rapists following the conviction of the Skaf brothers in the early 2000’s.A place defined by family; working to respect, to honour, to please those who raised him and the extended clan who would forever be his life.AndA place scarred by politics, as Muslims were victimised in the wake of the September 11 attacks in America and closer to home in the riots unleashed by white supremacists at Cronulla.The Other Half of You describes Bani’s attempts to reconcile his life, his love, his education in the search for someone he can spend his life with.The book is immediately fascinating for its dialogue between BAni and his young son. It’s easy to forget as we progress that this open, honest and candid narrative is a confession and design for life from father to son.I don’t want to overlook this. Because we live in a world where men talk to men in terms, harsh and combative. To be a man is to be defined more by violence than love.The Other Half of You opens up the history of an individual. It’s a history, as I’ve mentioned, Mohammed carefully chronicles in his writing, and he welcomes a new generation to this story.Opening up this book I found parts of Sydney that I no longer get to visit. Areas in lockdown and areas that too often are only part of the food tourist trail for other suburbs.In his story Bani covers these grounds in an epic love story and an honest desire to communicate how that love came to be.I’ve found myself gravitating to incredible contemporary stories of Sydney lately. Partly because I’m now part of ‘Greater Sydney’ living in the Blue Mountains. And partly because whatever your relationship to the streets of this city we are now separated in reality where we were previously separated by apathy.If you want to travel and find love though, check out Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s The OTher HAlf of YouI’m a big fan of Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s writing; both for his eloquent prose, his biting sense of humour and his sense that we as a city and as a country are not hearing the stories of so many people. If you want to hear more of Michael Mohammed Ahmad he and I have had many a conversation on the Final Draft podcast. Wherever you listen in...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode is part two of J.P. Pomare discussing his latest Thriller The Last GuestsIf you missed part one be sure to go back and check out in your podcast appToday on the show...A nondescript man enters a holiday accommodation in Auckland with bags full of electrical equipment. Hours later he leaves with empty suitcases.Another Peephole stream has gone live.On the other side of Auckland Cain and Lina are doing it tough. Cain hasn’t had much work since he was injured in combat and he wants Lina to put her family home up on WeStay - an online accommodation app. Lina’s not too sure though. All her childhood memories are in that home and who knows what terrors a guest could inflict on that nostalgia?In Part Two of the conversation Josh delves into the ways he uses psychology in his stories, as well as the ways our own psychology influences our behaviour. We also get a little tongue in cheek, exploring Josh's back catalogue and the possibility of a J.P. Pomare extended universeWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features J.P. Pomare discussing his latest Thriller The Last GuestsToday on the show...A nondescript man enters a holiday accommodation in Auckland with bags full of electrical equipment. Hours later he leaves with empty suitcases.Another Peephole stream has gone live.On the other side of Auckland Cain and Lina are doing it tough. Cain hasn’t had much work since he was injured in combat and he wants Lina to put her family home up on WeStay - an online accommodation app. Lina’s not too sure though. All her childhood memories are in that home and who knows what terrors a guest could inflict on that nostalgia?In Part One of the conversation Josh shares a story that goes to the heart of the Last Guests. Thrillers so often reflect our own societal concerns and existential crises and we discover some real world concerns about how we are benign surveilled...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Tilly Lawless discussing her debut novel Nothing But My BodyToday on the show...Nothing But My Body is a journey through eight days in the life of a young, queer sex worker.The narrator explores her world and confronts the versions of herself seen through the eyes of clients, friends and lovers, at all times challenging and railing against the strictures of labels and reductive stereotypes.Nothing But My Body confronts the lows we can feel navigating the world while celebrating the constancy of friendships and the steady community they offer against a tide of cruelty andJoin me as we discover Tilly Lawless’s Nothing But My Body...Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
Today I wanted to highlight some incredible writing from Western Sydney.And there is a wealth of incredible writing that comes out of western Sydney. Just recently I’ve received the collection Second City - Essays from Western Sydney published by Sydney Review of Books, The Magpie Wing Max Easton’s debut novel about football culture and growing up in the west and now that I mention it I realise I haven’t yet brought in one of my favourite releases of 2021; The Other Half of You by Michael Mohammad Ahmad. I will absolutely get back to that, it’s an incredible novel. But today I want to talk about a collection from the literary collective that Michael Mohammad Ahmad founded. The collection is entitled Racism - Stories on Fear, Hate and Bigotry, it’s out now from Sweatshop Literacy Movement and brings together more than forty writers detailing through their art what racism is in Australia.To tell you about Sweatshop I can’t really go past their own description of their work and mission…“Sweatshop is a literacy movement based in Western Sydney which is devoted to empowering culturally and linguistically diverse communities through reading, writing and critical thinking.”Sweatshop have an wide and growing range of titles that broach the stories we so seldom hear coming from individuals and communities that are too often talked about but not to. They recognise that it is not enough to simply empower communities to tell their stories, those stories have to be out there for people to access, to read and reflect on.I want to try and tread a very fine line here, because I don’t want to just be another person talking about these stories; I want you to read them and hear these voices for yourself.The works in Racism pose a simple but volatile question; “Are we a nation of racists?” I can already hear the angry tweets being penned; of course we’re not, a few bad apples, we might have been but now equality. Sentiments that make us feel better, but in the middle of a lockdown that has seen a huge disparity in response and restrictions between East and South West, well I want to hear more than just the dominant narrative.The stories in this collection relate experiences and narratives that open up the range of individual experiences of this thing we call racism. Through short stories, poetry and micro fiction we are shown the slurs and the looks, the overt acts and the sycophantic attempts at inclusivity.What becomes clear through these stories is that while racism is exemplified in individual acts, it is established and codified in the ways we both see and choose to remain blind and silent when people are treated as other, whatever the supposed reason.That’s enough from me. I want to leave the last word on this collection to its collectors. Winnie Dunn, Stephen Pham and Phoebe Granger are the editors of Racism and in their introduction they lay out that they “seek to provide a personal and intimate record from first nations people and people of colour across all ages, that demonstrates the pain, despair, confusion, complexity and rejection that comes from being the ‘other’.”
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Anne Marie Te Whiu & David Stavanger discussing Red Room Poetry's inaugural Poetry MonthToday on the show...Poetry Month is a showcase of the incredible wealth of poetic talent in this country and will be Featuring:* 30 in 30 - delivering daily, original text/video poems from some of Australia’s best poets * Poetry Workshops - with incredible poets * Line Break - a weekly online poetry show * Fair Trade - conversations with First Nations poets
Want more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser.https://2ser.com/final-draft
This week I wanted to do something a little different for our book club. Usually I’m bringing you some kind of long form narrative (typically a novel) and opening up on my thoughts about how the particular story engages with issues or questions that get to the heart of our lives.I love these stories, they’re immensely satisfying and I’ll definitely be back with more soon.This week though I wanted to bring you a little poetry. Specifically I wanted to let everyone out there know about Poetry Month an initiative from Red Room Poetry.This is the inaugural poetry month and it really is a festival of poetic art spanning styles from the traditional, through hip hop and an array of voices from throughout the community.Poetry Month is organised and run by Red Room Poetry and it’s designed to increase the profile of Australian Poets, Poetry and Publishers.I don’t know about you but I’ve always loved poetry. Having said that, I haven’t always made time for it in my life.Poetry has a way of demanding your attention, slapping you in the face with a line that makes you look at the world like you’ve been wearing blinkers (spoiler alert - you have).A collection I’ve been loving recently, though by no means underestimating as it sneaks up on me in strange ways, is Evelyn Araluen’s Drop Bear. Throughout the collection Araluen chews up ideas and visions, cliches and tropes to show us this country in ways we never thought to look…In Index Australis, Araluen writes:No law against that, no laws for nothingIn the age of entitlementIn the decolonial DundeeAnd well may we say , we will decideWho and howWell may we not be lectured and wellMay we do it slowlyJust there in that stanza, Araluen skewers our political class and us for our reliance on either side for their moral high ground while they leave so many languishing.Evelyn Araluen joins poetry month as part of Fair Trade - First Nations poetic conversations, a series of conversations bringing together some of the world’s leading first nations poets.Poetry Month will also be Featuring:* 30 in 30 - delivering daily, original text/video poems from some of Australia’s best poets * Poetry Workshops - with poets such as Tony Birch & Hope One * Line Break - a weekly online poetry show * Fair Trade - conversations with First Nations poets
Another poet who’ll be featuring as part of poetry month is Omar Sakr. His collection The Lost Arabs won amongst other accolades The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards Poetry Prize. I often wonder if the PM reads the works that get his award. I feel like if he had read The Lost Arabs we might get a little more humility, more understanding and less bluster.One thing that scares me when I read poetry is that I might misunderstand, but then the poet always seems to leave room. Omar is an Arab Australian poet whose work addresses identities that are not my own, and yet when I read in his poem How to Destroy The Body Slowly:You. Every day for a hundred yearsIf you’re so luckyLive with this ordinaryDivinity, live with this death as long as you can& waste not a single day on a rose.I hear something of the insecurity and the beauty that I struggle to find in life sometimes and that we can all discover when we read Omar’s poems.If you’re looking for more, well Poetry Month starts soon and the best part of all is it’s online, so join in wherever you are.For more details check out https://redroompoetry.org/ and discover all the poetry events across the month....
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode is part two of Elodie Cheesman discussing her debut novel Love, in TheoryIn this second part of the conversation we dive deeper into the mathematics of relationships and explore the ways all our relationships have a little bit of love in them...Romy is a graduate lawyer. Her work sees her taking a deep dive into the relationships corporations have with their employees and she’s finding that often these look more like intimate, romantic partnerships than anything she’s got on her personal calendar.Romy’s parents worry she’s not dating. Her mates think she’s got a type and is being picky. Even Romy wonders if the guys she’s interested in set up the relationships to fail.When she’s introduced to optimal stopping point theory she wonders if maybe there’s another way to go about finding the one. Romy has to apply ruthless legal logic to relationships in her work, why not try a little algorithmic thinking to her non-existent dating life?Join me as we discover Elodie Cheesman’s Love, in Theory...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Elodie Cheesman discussing her debut novel Love, in TheoryToday on the show...Romy is a graduate lawyer. Her work sees her taking a deep dive into the relationships corporations have with their employees and she’s finding that often these look more like intimate, romantic partnerships than anything she’s got on her personal calendar.Romy’s parents worry she’s not dating. Her mates think she’s got a type and is being picky. Even Romy wonders if the guys she’s interested in set up the relationships to fail.When she’s introduced to optimal stopping point theory she wonders if maybe there’s another way to go about finding the one. Romy has to apply ruthless legal logic to relationships in her work, why not try a little algorithmic thinking to her non-existent dating life?Join me as we discover Elodie Cheesman’s Love, in Theory...
Flock brings together twenty First Nations writers, poets and authors in a collection that features some of the best writing in this country. The collection is edited and features a story from Ellen Van Neerven. The stories promise to roam the landscape of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytelling, bringing together voices from across the generations. This episode of book club features words from Wiradjuri poet Jeanine Leane as she describes how "First Nations writing is always important because First Nations writing does the job that national history fails to do."
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Mykaela Saunders, Jeanine Leane & Jane Harrison discussing the anthology Flock.Flock introduces itself as First Nations Stories Then and Now. The stories promise to roam the landscape of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytelling, bringing together voices from across the generations. The collection is edited and features a story from Ellen Van Neerven. It features contributions from the likes of Tara June Winch, Tony Birch and Melissa Lucashenko as well as our guests today Mykaela Saunders, Jeanine Leane and Jane Harrison.
I’ve been thinking about Genre lately. Genre in its simplest form is the style or the type of books you like to read; crime, fantasy, romance. Genre has other uses in linguistic theory but I’ve mostly been thinking about literary genres.Often in conversation genre fans will clash with so-called literary fans. There’s a slippery slope of which is which but often it seems if something can be defined as genre it is by default not literary.I don’t agree with this. It’s why I brought it up because I would hate for anyone to hear us discuss a book and dismiss it offhand because it didn’t fit their idea of Genre.There’s a great article in the Guardian this week. Mary Anne Sieghart writes Why Do So Few Men Read Books by women? Sieghart is looking at how we are able to understand each other’s experiences of the world and how this relates to a range of pervasive gaps in gendered experience of the world.But I wondered about genre.Do perceptions about genre and which genres are read by which group play into the books we read?For instance if I introduced you to a book called Love, in Theory what would your reaction be?I think some people might hear ‘Love’ and automatically start classifying the type of book this might be.Well Love, in Theory by Elodie Cheesman is the book I’ve got for our book club today.It’s the story of a twenty something Sydneysider; dedicated to their career and adopting a novel approach to social life outside work.In a lot of ways this book is the perfect exploration of living in a world where boomer thinking dominates a world where millennials are shut out from many of the tropes of growing up their parents have told them to expect.Romy is a graduate lawyer. Her work sees her taking a deep dive into the relationships corporations have with their employees and she’s finding that many of these look more like romantic partnerships than anything she’s got on her personal calendar. Meanwhile her parents have challenged her with the theory of then optimal stopping point; a way of calculating the best time to make a decision when the choices seem to go on endlessly.Romy has to apply ruthless legal logic to the relationships in her work, why not try a little algorithmic thinking to her non-existent dating life.Love, in Theory flips between the arching narrative of Romy’s personal life and vignettes from her legal world of wrongful terminations turned sour. It’s an expose of how none of us are really equipped to work on our relationships because we rarely stop and think whether relationships are things that need work.As Romy grapples between trusting chemistry and doing the work she finds almost everyone subscribes to a varying notion of love and relationships. It’s amazing we ever get together for anything.See, from a genre perspective this might look like a romance novel, and romance smashes it in terms of looking at how we live our lives, but if you only saw that you might miss the savvy eye to critical thinking it applies to everyday relationships.Love in Theory wants us to think about things that we usually believe should be felt. It’s trying to upend our social positioning and show us a new perspective and that’s always worth having a look at...
Andrew Pople is the host of Final Draft on 2ser and the Great Conversations podcast.Here he is celebrating three years of the podcast on air on Sydney radio 2ser 107.3
Join us in celebrating three years of the Final Draft podcast!We've come a long way and today we're looking back to the beginning. Bram Presser is the author of the award winning The Book of Dirt. He is also the first guest to grace our little podcast way back when it began. Listen back to a remastered version of that first interview along with exclusive audio of Andrew and Bram discussing the incredible success of The Book of Dirt winning the NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Michelle Wright discussing her debut novel Small Acts of DefianceToday on the show...In January 1940 Lucie and her mother Yvonne must leave Australia for France, following the death of Lucie’s father. They are taken in by Gerard, Yvonne’s brother and their only surviving relative.Despite feeling she might never fit in as a Parisian, Lucie endeavours to settle in to the fabled city of lights, sketching postcards for sale at a nearby art supply store.But Lucie’s arrival coincides with the invasion of France by Germany. As the Germans exert more and more control, Lucie must decide whether to shelter in her relative safety or make a show of resistance.Join me as we discover Michelle Wright’s Small Acts of Defiance...
Today's episode is a shout out to To Be Read piles everywhere.As we face down the Sydney Lockdown it can be easy to pressure ourselves to try to do all the things.Instead we should be kind to our mind and approach our TBR with love and curiosity.Today's selection offers books to challenge, make you think and just relax into as your mind travels wide while your body stays put.Titles mentioned...Evelyn Araluen's Drop BearElodie Cheesman's Love in TheoryRacism (collection) from Sweatshop Literacy Movement ed. Winnie DunnVanessa Berry's Gentle & Fierceand unnamed mystery that will be coming up on 2ser's Death of the Reader
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features RWR McDonald discussing his new novel Nancy BusinessToday on the show...Nancy Business returns to Riverstone. Tippy’s been getting on with life after solving the murder of her teacher. Pike and Devon have bought the murder house and are trying to decorate it without murdering each other.So far so normal when the town is rocked by an explosion at the Town Hall. Three people are killed and it looks like the bomber might be a local.The bombing happens on the anniversary of Tippy’s father’s death and this brings back so much for her. Tippy is now constantly in fear of more violence and of losing more people close to her. The only thing to do is reform the Nancys and solve the mystery of the lone bomber.
In January 1940 Lucie and her mother Yvonne leave Australia for France, following the death of Lucie’s father. Taken in by Gerard, their only surviving relative, Lucie must settle into the fabled city of lights on the eve of invasion from Germany.Small Acts of Defiance chronicles Lucie’s coming of age in Paris and a world that is forever teetering on chaos as the Germans exert more and more control.Lucie begins inexperienced and self consciously out of her depth in a city she worries will never embrace her. Wright approaches crafting Lucie’s point of view with all the naivety and innocence of a young person on their first trip away from Australia. This allows us as readers to experience and marvel at discovering Paris even as the city lights are dimming with the ongoing war.Lucie’s perspectives vacillate between her love of the sun and surf of her Australian upbringing now tainted by the loss of her father and the enchanting but dangerous lure of occupied Paris.Lucie’s talent as an artist draws her into circles that soon see her challenged in her role as a either resisting of acquiescing to the German rule. Her best friend Aline is a young Jewish student whose world is steadily circumscribed by antisemtic laws.Small Acts of Defiance unfolds miles from the battlefields, so familiar in novels of war and takes us onto the streets where everyday people must still make decisions with life or death consequences. We watch along with Lucie, as small encroachments on liberty accumulate to people being taken from the streets and those not directly impacted desperately tell themselves stories to justify their complicity.Lucie’s story is compelling whether viewed in its historical place or through our modern lens. As a foreigner, as a child, as a woman she feels that she is singularly denied any space to voice her true self. And so she creates small works of art that she hides around the city.But Lucie is relatively fortunate as she comes to learn when Aline’s grandfather is taken and the family are ostracised from society just for being Jewish. Lucie comes to be haunted by something her father told her of his experience of war… “Doing nothing is still a choice. A choice to stand aside and let it happen.”Lucie commits to her small acts of defiance and is drawn further into her friends resistance of the occupation. All the while challenged by her own small role and the potentially outsized risk it places on her mother and uncle.This is a deeply affecting story of a time and a place that cannot fail but to have claim on our modern consciousness. With both sides of any argument seemingly drawing on the spectre of Nazism to fling at their enemies it serves us well to gain a deeper understanding and empathy.Small Acts of Defiance is also a tonic against despair and complacency. I don’t know about you but I’ve fallen prey to feelings that my efforts amount to little. Small Acts of Defiance reminds us that we are a part of the world we live in, the communities that we interact with and that gives us responsibilities. No matter the ways authorities may pit us against each other giving up or never trying is a choice and that our actions are an important part of living.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part two of Jessie Stephens discussing her new book HeartsickToday on the show...Heartsick weaves together three stories of love and loss.Claire has returned from London, only to realise something is wrong with her partner Maggie.Patrick is a lonely uni student, until he meets Caitlin - but does she feel as connected as he does?Ana is happily married with three children. Then, one night, she falls in love with someone else.Today’s conversation is presented by 2ser producer Briannah DevlinJoin me as we discover Jessie Stephens’ Heartsick...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jessie Stephens discussing her new book HeartsickToday on the show...Heartsick weaves together three stories of love and loss.Claire has returned from London, only to realise something is wrong with her partner Maggie.Patrick is a lonely uni student, until he meets Caitlin - but does she feel as connected as he does?Ana is happily married with three children. Then, one night, she falls in love with someone else.Today’s conversation is presented by 2ser producer Briannah DevlinJoin me as we discover Jessie Stephens’ Heartsick...
Last week I teased a sequel to 2019’s The Nancys and today I have come to deliver.First some background…The Nancy’s is the debut novel from RWR McDonald. Set in the fictional South Otago town of Riverstone the story follows eleven year old Tippy Chan, her Uncle Pike and his boyfriend Devon as they band together in homage to their favourite girl detective Nancy Drew to solve the brutal murder of Tippy’s teacher.Yeah, you thought this might be a middle grade book based on the protagonist right? Think again.The Nancy’s won the Ngaio Marsh award for a debut novel and garnered a slew of shortlistings, because, quite frankly, it is gorgeous.Jump forward to now and Tippy, Pike and Devon return in Nancy Business. The stakes are higher, the tone is darker, Tippy has a new haircut and don’t even think of going near Devon with green!Get ready for a cosy mystery, with a queer heart and some real questions about what it means to be a part of a community.In Nancy Business Riverstone is rocked by an explosion at the Town Hall. Three people are killed and it looks like a local is the bomber. Straight away things feel darker than the last novel. The bombing happens on the anniversary of Tippy’s father’s death and this has brought back so much for her. She is now constantly in fear of more violence and of losing more people close to her.Pike and Devon are triumphant in their return to Riverstone but they two are hiding a darkness. Growing up Riverstone was never a place Pike could safe as a young gay man. Despite a level of fabulous acceptance with Devon by his side, the two are struggling to navigate the growth and maturing of their relationship. Could they really settle down in Riverstone?The undercurrent of Nancy Business is that communities have secrets and those secrets have consequences. Tippy is single minded in uncovering the truth but she’s also twelve years old. As she navigates the various stories of her town she is learning that some secrets are not hers to tell.RWR McDonald’s expanding Nancys universe is an absolute delight. The first thing I want to say is start with The Nancys. Nancy Business is a stand alone story but there is so much to both why not start at the beginning.Riding along with Tippy you’ll find yourself wondering at the mix of genres McDonald is working (actually to be fair you probably won’t - his writing is seamless and you’ll likely be buckled in for the ride). The story feels like it should be YA and why not. I’m not going to stop any YA or other acronym for a loosely defined age demographic. But many of the themes of Nancy Business also feel like maybe a twelve year shouldn’t be… but then that’s the point; young adults always have and always will have to deal with these (scare quotes) adult themes. As much as Pike and Devon check in with Tippy it’s also them as so-called adults who need a hug and a bit of a moment to deal with the trauma.Nancy Business is terrific - the dialogue is tighter than Devon’s hot pants and the characters are the sort that make you want to move to their town (just as soon as they sort out all the death)
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Michael Mohammed Ahmad discussing his new novel The Other Half of YouToday on the show...Bani Adam knows that his family expect him to do the Tribe proud. To marry the right kind of girl and grow their family. But Bani knows this is not the only way to be a good son, a good man.The Other Half of You is Bani telling the story of this life and this love to his son Khalil. To help Khalil understand the complexity of his identity as a Muslim, an Australian and a man Bani must tell both halves of his story.In Part two we explore the damage that media depictions of young lebanese men has done and the ways that Mohammed has worked in his writing to tell more nuanced stories. We also get into the heart of the novel and discover a humorous side to Mohammed.Join me as we discover Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s The Other Half of You...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Michael Mohammed Ahmad discussing his new novel The Other Half of YouToday on the show...Bani Adam knows that his family expect him to do the Tribe proud. To marry the right kind of girl and grow their family. But Bani knows this is not the only way to be a good son, a good man.The Other Half of You is Bani telling the story of this life and this love to his son Khalil. To help Khalil understand the complexity of his identity as a Muslim, an Australian and a man Bani must tell both halves of his story.In part one of our conversation Mohammad explores Love and the necessity of telling stories that represent, engage and transform the communities they represent.
I’ve got a bit of a weird book club this week... An absolutely incredible sequel to a stunningly fun book was released last week. It’s called Nancy Business and is the sequel to 2019’s The Nancys from RWR McDonald. I’ve only just started Nancy Business and rather than revisiting my book club on The Nancys, I thought we’d go back further still to a piece I wrote on the history of what would become one of RWR McDonald’s inspirations Nancy Drew.Our tale starts one hundred years ago...So Nancy Drew is best known as an unassuming, always ready, teen detective from River Heights. Her father Carson Drew is a crime fighting lawyer and her asexual boyfriend is Ned Nickerson. She’s the star of hundreds of novels and several screen adaptations, but she’s also been around for close to a hundred years and has gone through numerous iterations.So right now it may sound like Nancy Drew is one of the undead and we need to call in one of the various iterations of Buffy to slay her. In fact Nancy is the product of an extremely successful, if highly exploitative publishing syndicate that was able to turn the methods of mass production to teen literature.Nancy Drew, along with her male teen detective counterparts The Hardy Boys, were the brainchild of the publishing empire of Edward Stratemeyer (b.1862). Stratemeyer grew his empire over the early decades of the twentieth century using a shrewd understanding of what children want and how to market it to their tiny allowances. Yay Capitalism!Stratemeyer was capitalising on a confluence of social and cultural changes including an increase in childhood literacy, the popularising of assembly line techniques and a growing appetite for entertainment. This created the audience that would devour series aimed at younger readers for 10-50 cents a pop.Stratemeyer knew what the public wanted and he created characters that would resonate with their ideal lives. He created every-person type characters (at least if you were white and middle class) and employed marketing and cross promoting techniques that would do Amazon proud!Seeking titles for a slightly older audience Stratemeyer launched The Hardy Boys in 1926 and the first Nancy Drew books followed in 1930 written under the pen name Carolyn Keene. These books were incredibly popular and overturned the maxim of the time that girls would happily read boys books.The original writer of Nancy Drew was Mildred Wirt, but there were many more to come over the years. The books were penned by a team of writers working under a pseudonym (so it looked all wholesome and consistent). Much like the comic book industry to come, the Stratemeyer syndicate knew how to screw over its bullpen of writers; with many struggling to survive.Nancy Drew has had many updates over the years but the basic concept was formulaic. Nancy Drew lived in River Heights. Her boyfriend was Ned Nickerson. They had a sunny white-bread relationship and were not particularly troubled by diversity. Each book saw a mystery emerge that was solved by hard work, a bump on the head that never seemed to cause concussion and a whole lot of pluck, luck and coincidence.So across the years and her many faces Nancy became a publishing powerhouse that despite her extremely American origins even penetrated publishing in the antipodes.Nancy Drew’s popularity makes her a troubling feminist icon; her freedom and independence offered one vision of equality and in the 1930’s and through the war years you can see how she might have inspired the minds of some young girls to dream. However her white suburban privilege firmly situates her freedom as the domain of her dominant culture status and does nothing for a world coming to understand that intersectionality was never a choice but an inevitability.Now RWR McDonald’s Nancys’ books do not share the troubling history I’ve just described. They’re the heartwarming story of a young girl, her gay uncle and his fashion designer boyfriend solving crimes in a small town in New Zealand. They’re equally hilarious and heartwarming and I cannot wait to bring you a boom club on Nancy Business.I just need a little more time for reading!)
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features A.W. Hammond discussing his new novel The Paris CollaboratorToday on the show...It’s Paris. August 1944.Auguste Duchene is renowned for his ability to find missing people. Now he finds himself in an impossible situation; as the Allies close in on Paris Duchene must find a missing priest and a German soldier.Working both sides against the other he must somehow satisfy two masters to protect his family.In part two we get deeper into the mystery of The Paris Collaborator as well as exploring the ways that ideologies clash. Intriguingly we discover that the denouement may have as much to with how Duchene survives as with the solution to the mystery.Join us as we discover The Paris Collaborator
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features A.W. Hammond discussing his new novel The Paris CollaboratorToday on the show...It’s Paris. August 1944.Auguste Duchene is renowned for his ability to find missing people. Now he finds himself in an impossible situation; as the Allies close in on Paris Duchene must find a missing priest and a German soldier.Working both sides against the other he must somehow satisfy two masters to protect his family.In part one of the interview Alex helps us establish what’s at stake for Duchene and get some insight into how he recreated the world of wartime Paris, as well as some insights into his detective influences…Join us as we discover The Paris Collaborator
Emily Spurr is a debut novelist. A Million Things began its life as a manuscript that was ultimately shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award. When I spoke with Emily for Final Draft she told me that that story went through a dramatic evolution to become the thoroughly intriguing novel that I’m here to tell you about today...Rae is pretty self sufficient for a ten year old. She can get to school lunch packed. Clean the house, although the backyard is a mess. And she’s always got time for her dog Splinter. In fact until the money in her Mum’s back account runs out no one needs to know her Mum’s not around.Lettie next door could be a problem though. Always on her porch, just sitting and watching. If she notices Rae’s on her own there could be trouble.But Lettie’s got problems of her own.A Million Things runs on its extraordinarily realised characters. Rae, Lettie and Splinter the dog are the sort of characters that you find yourself talking about like they’re real people. I don’t mind telling you that at one point Emily had me fully ugly crying over the story. I can’t you what it was, that would be spoilers, but suffice to say these are the sort of people who get under your skin and make you care.And because you find yourself caring so much in A Million Things the book has this incredible power to pull you into its ideas.At its heart A Million Things felt to me like an exploration of the ways we need each other. We’ve all learned a little about that in the last year but A Million Things pushes around the edges of the really uncomfortable ways we need each other, especially those times when we’d much rather push the whole world away.Both Rae and Lettie need someone and both are terribly afraid of what it might mean were someone to find out how badly that need gripped them. Isolation has given them the false sense that if they can just keep controlling their little worlds then everything else will go along for them.Let’s talk for a minute about the requirement to be palatable in order to be worthy of receiving love. That rule may not be on the books but it definitely exists, particularly for people in marginalised or vulnerable groups.The reality for older women is that they are at significantly higher risk of poverty, homelessness, neglect and isolation. This is the group that Lettie falls in and as we see in the novel she has created a world that is safe for her in her isolation and is extremely reluctant to have it disturbed.Because of who she is Lettie is also viewed as eccentric, weird and not desirable in her neighbourhood. She has to take significant risks to both let Rae in and give her support whilst also accepting support herself.In creating these beautiful characters Emily Spurr has given life to people that we might otherwise not notice, even ignore, and she’s done it in a way that makes us fall in love with them and care.This is also a book with a huge bombshell just waiting beneath its surface. Oh, how I wanted to tell you more about the big secret hiding in A Million Things, but I couldn’t because I love you all too much and I want you to discover this for yourself. But do me a favour and when you’ve read A MIllion Things get in touch and we can trade notes… trust me, this is a book you’re going to want to talk about!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Hugh Breakey discussing his new novel The Beautiful FallToday on the show...If you woke up one day with no memory of who you were, where do you think you would place your trust?Every 179 days Robbie forgets everything about himself. The last time this happened all he had was a note, written by himself to guide his future.He keeps himself protected by avoiding the world; shut in, deliveries to the door and very little outside interaction. He can’t risk that the forgetting happens and he is left at the mercy of a stranger. Robbie has a project that structures his days. He’s building an elaborate, record breaking dominoes pattern.And that’s enough until one day, not long before the next forgetting a new delivery person comes to Robbies door and he feels a spark of something?Join me as we discover Hugh Breakey’s The Beautiful Fall...
Re[ad]generate aims to regenerate reading by supporting children in fire and flood-affected communities. The campaign will deliver books written and illustrated by First Nations authors and artists, providing children in those communities with educational opportunities that reflect their communities and their daily lives.It’s now 18 months on from the devastating fires that killed 33 people and burned over 17 million hectares. A lot’s happened since then including a pandemic, floods and a mouse plague. Across Australia communities are still rebuilding and First Nation's communities are disproportionately impacted by these natural disasters.Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai woman whose writing includes the acclaimed poetry collection Kindred and her latest, Bindi which tells the story of a community facing bushfire and its aftermath. Kirli developed the Re[ad]generate campaign to bring books and stories to affected communities that could show children their resilience and strength.
A.W. Hammond is a former lawyer. He also publishes as Alex Hammond as has a Ned Kelly award nomination for his novel Blood Witness. His latest novel sees him traveling back and exploring a particular crime in a blood soaked era in The Paris Collaborator...It’s Paris. August 1944.Auguste Duchene is renowned for his ability to find missing people. He doesn’t see race or nationality, only people who need his help.But Duchene is about to find himself in an impossible situation; as the Allies close in on Paris Duchene must find a missing priest and a German soldier.The set up is deceptively simple; Duchene must help the Resistance to find a missing priest with a cache of guns, whilst also help the Nazis find a missing soldier in a war full of missing people.If he fails in either mission his daughter will be killed. If either side finds out about the other, Duchene's own life is forfeit.Into this intriguing setting Hammond crafts a story about loyalty in a time of extremes.I was first drawn to The Paris Collaborator as a flight of pure escapism. Rightly or wrongly stories of war time heroism can offer a means of simplifying the world. In Duchene though I found something more than simply a white hat on his way to riding off into the sunset.The Paris Collaborator pits polarised ideologies, both equally willing to brutalise and kill and both equally assured of their righteousness. From the distance of history we might say there was only one way, but as we walk the streets of a war torn city with Duchene we are shown the difficulty of individual clarity.This polarisation is no more apparent than in the breakdown of civility. Even the appearance of acknowledging the other side is cause for scorn. Duchene is constantly vexed that his daughter Mariane does not care that he disapproves. She loves her German fiance and believes that this is enough to survive the war.And so we come to the heart of The Paris Collaborator, because even though we do not find ourselves fighting on the streets of Sydney we are equally thrown into ideological battles that seem to give no quarter.As Duchene races to complete his mission the Allies approach Paris and its ultimate liberation. The question becomes as much will Duchene prevail, as how will his actions be viewed in the aftermath.Hammond has drawn an immensely satisfying historical novel with beautifully realised scenes at the ground level. Drawing on archives and photographs of the time, the writing makes you feel as if you are walking the cobbled streets.In mixing genres we also find ourselves shifting between war, crime and espionage wrought in sepia, noir tones. I could almost see Bogart playing Duchene (only he’d destroy the accent).The Paris Collaborator is a tremendous read with some important ideas. Before you get online and destroy someone anonymously you might want to think about how pitted ideologies actually serve us as a community. As this novel shows us when we see only stereotypes everyday kindness is destroyed and that tends only to help the powerful at all our expense.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jean Hinchliffe discussing her debut book Lead The WayToday’s episode is going to be a little different. We’re not getting into a work of literary fiction seeking to illuminate our world, rather we’re exploring the practical ways we can make change ourselves.Jean expands on her journey into social change and the lessons she’s learned about how to advocate for what you believe in. Oh, and Jean’s still in high school.Yeah, the kids are going to be alright and can we do any less than support them as they try to make the world a better placeJoin me as we discover Jean Hinchliffe’s Lead The Way...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part two of a special encore listen to Evie Wyld discussing her novel The Bass RockEvie Wyld is the Miles Franklin award winning author of All the Birds Singing. She joined me on Final Draft last year to discuss The Bass Rock, a novel which has gone on to win the Stella Prize. Today we are revisiting that conversation with a special extended chat that takes in all the bits that didn't make it to air last time...The Bass Rock weaves together three narratives across the centuries exploring the pervasive violence that women must live with daily. The novel opens on a scene of a child and her mother walking on the beach, about to make a gruesome discovery. We then meet Vivianne arriving in town late at night to catalogue the estate of her grandmother Ruth. In post war Scotland Ruth arrives at her new home unsure of her place and her role in the lives of her adopted children. And some centuries earlier Sarah must flee her village after she is charged with witchcraft and faces brutality at the hands of the townsfolk and burning at the stake.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part one of a special encore edition for Evie Wyld's The Bass RockEvie Wyld is the Miles Franklin award winning author of All the Birds Singing. She joined me on Final Draft last year to discuss The Bass Rock, a novel which has gone on to win the Stella Prize. Today we are revisiting that conversation with a special extended chat that takes in all the bits that didn't make it to air last time...The Bass Rock weaves together three narratives across the centuries exploring the pervasive violence that women must live with daily. The novel opens on a scene of a child and her mother walking on the beach, about to make a gruesome discovery. We then meet Vivianne arriving in town late at night to catalogue the estate of her grandmother Ruth. In post war Scotland Ruth arrives at her new home unsure of her place and her role in the lives of her adopted children. And some centuries earlier Sarah must flee her village after she is charged with witchcraft and faces brutality at the hands of the townsfolk and burning at the stake.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part two of Emily Spurr discussing her debut novel A Million Things.Rae is pretty self sufficient for a ten year old. She can get to school lunch packed. Clean the house, although the backyard is a mess. And she’s always got time for her dog Splinter. In fact until the money in her Mum’s back account runs out no one needs to know her Mum’s not around.Lettie next door could be a problem though. Always on her porch, just sitting and watching. If she notices Rae’s on her own there could be trouble.But Lettie’s got problems of her own.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part one of Emily Spurr discussing her debut novel A Million Things.Rae is pretty self sufficient for a ten year old. She can get to school lunch packed. Clean the house, although the backyard is a mess. And she’s always got time for her dog Splinter. In fact until the money in her Mum’s back account runs out no one needs to know her Mum’s not around.Lettie next door could be a problem though. Always on her porch, just sitting and watching. If she notices Rae’s on her own there could be trouble.But Lettie’s got problems of her own.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part two of AB Endacott discussing the latest novel in her fantasy world of the Godkissed Continent, Deliverance of the Blessed. We'll be delving into how the book's are published and all the work that goes into being a self-published author.Today on the show...Deliverance of the Blessed takes us into the world of the Sanctuary and a core group of the Blessed. Kaylene is mourning the death of her love Luka. She’s desperate and will do almost anything to get him back. Just as she’s about to make an irreversible decision though she is offered a chance. But could hope be more terrible than the loss she feels?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part one of AB Endacott discussing the latest novel in her fantasy world of the Godkissed Continent, Deliverance of the BlessedToday on the show...Deliverance of the Blessed takes us into the world of the Sanctuary and a core group of the Blessed. Kaylene is mourning the death of her love Luka. She’s desperate and will do almost anything to get him back. Just as she’s about to make an irreversible decision though she is offered a chance. But could hope be more terrible than the loss she feels?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part two of Eileen Chong discussing her new collection A Thousand Crimson BloomsIn a very special turn Eileen shares one of her poems from the collectionToday on the show...Eileen Chong is an Australian poet of Chinese descent. She is the author of eight collections of poetry and her work has been listed for more prizes than a half hour show like ours could possibly list but I’ll just mention the likes of the The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the PM’s Literary Award. Her first collection Burning Rice is taught as part of the NSW HSC Syllabus and today we will be talking about her new collection A Thousand Crimson Blooms.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part one of Eileen Chong discussing her new collection A Thousand Crimson BloomsToday on the show...Eileen Chong is an Australian poet of Chinese descent. She is the author of eight collections of poetry and her work has been listed for more prizes than a half hour show like ours could possibly list but I’ll just mention the likes of the The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the PM’s Literary Award. Her first collection Burning Rice is taught as part of the NSW HSC Syllabus and today we will be talking about her new collection A Thousand Crimson Blooms.
Emily Maguire is the author of fiction and non-fiction. Her 2016 novel An Isolated Incident garnered short list noms for the Stella Prize and the Miles Franklin. It explored the reverberations within a community around a horrific act of violence against a young woman.Maguire is a master of closely drawn character and the population of her novels feel almost like a neighbour or a workmate in the ways they jump off the page.Her latest novel Love Objects takes us into Sydney’s Inner West where Nicole has lived pretty much her entire life. It’s a modest house but Nic has always said her family has a bed there if they ever need it.Nicole hasn't had much in the way of family after her mum died and her sister moved to Brisbane. When Michelle left she took Lena, Nic’s niece.Lena and her brother Will grew up worshipping their Aunty Nic. Her house was an escape from home and she supported their every endeavour unconditionally. When Lena moved to Brisbane Nic was devastated.Now Lena’s back in Sydney studying and every Sunday she and Nic meet up for lunch. When Aunty Nic misses their date one Sunday, Lena goes in search of her aunt. Only to make a shocking discovery…It’s hard to know whether to leave this synopsis on that click baity cliffhanger. The shocking revelation is designed to garner quick response, even judgement from the reader and then complicate those initial impressions.As I mentioned earlier Emily Maguire is masterful in her realisation of character. Nic is simultaneously close and relatable, then at turns completely foreign in her thinking. MAguire’s brilliance is to bring us so close into her life that we are able to sit with the discomfort of knowing there are no easy answers for Nic in her life.A key understanding of the dynamic of Love OBjects is in the relationships between Nicole, Lena and Will. MAguire wants to explore what the ethicist Peter Singer would call our expanding circle.Within their dynamic we have a love that looks like that within the typical nuclear family (for whatever value that term still holds) Nic has always viewed Lena like a daughter and was thrilled to have her back in Sydney. The events of the novel challenge both of their perceptions of this relationship as actions are perceived as betrayals and the ties that bind start to look more tenuous.Will returns to the family after an absence that began with a stint in prison that has impacted his ability to feel at peace. Will exemplifies an open secret that becomes almost a barrier to his inclusion anywhere. Try as he might to just be, he is always vigilant that he will only be judged by a single action.I’ve skirted nicely around the central tension of Love Objects and left out some key plot points because that is a part of why we read; to be surprised and challenged by what we find on the page. Suffice to say that in its exploration of love, community and connection Love Objects is the perfect book to challenge our world as we look to a post covid normal.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part two of Emily Maguire discussing her new novel Love ObjectsToday on the show...Nicole has always looked out for family. When her sister Michelle packed up and left Sydney for Brisbane Nic was devastated. Nic had always treated her niece Lena like her own and to be separated was unbearable.Now Lena’s back in Sydney studying and every Sunday she and Nic meet up for lunch. When Nic misses their date one Sunday, Lena goes in search of her aunt. What she finds changes everything and Lena will have to confront the lengths she will go to for someone she loves…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the worldToday's episode features part one of Emily Maguire discussing her new novel Love ObjectsToday on the show...Nicole has always looked out for family. When her sister Michelle packed up and left Sydney for Brisbane Nic was devastated. Nic had always treated her niece Lena like her own and to be separated was unbearable.Now Lena’s back in Sydney studying and every Sunday she and Nic meet up for lunch. When Nic misses their date one Sunday, Lena goes in search of her aunt. What she finds changes everything and Lena will have to confront the lengths she will go to for someone she loves…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part two of Claire Thomas discussing her new novel The PerformanceToday on the show...Three women attend a staging of Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days. Inside the theatre is air conditioned to a chill, while outside bushfires rage outside the city.On the stage a woman is trapped to her waist inside an expanding mound, happily exploring her past through items in her bag.Within the audience the women’s minds drift out across time. Margot considers her family, expanded to include a new grandson, even as her husband slowly moves into his old age. Ivy thinks about her world and how far she’s come from the person she was at uni. Summer wishes she could pay closer attention to the stage. Her job is to usher guests to their seats but her mind is miles away as the fires circling the city move closer to her girlfriends family home.Join me as we discover Claire Thomas’s The Performance...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part one of Claire Thomas discussing her new novel The PerformanceToday on the show...Three women attend a staging of Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days. Inside the theatre is air conditioned to a chill, while outside bushfires rage outside the city.On the stage a woman is trapped to her waist inside an expanding mound, happily exploring her past through items in her bag.Within the audience the women’s minds drift out across time. Margot considers her family, expanded to include a new grandson, even as her husband slowly moves into his old age. Ivy thinks about her world and how far she’s come from the person she was at uni. Summer wishes she could pay closer attention to the stage. Her job is to usher guests to their seats but her mind is miles away as the fires circling the city move closer to her girlfriends family home.Join me as we discover Claire Thomas’s The Performance...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features the Head of the 2021 Stella Prize Judging Panel Zoya Patel discussing the lead up to the prize announcementZoya Patel is the author of No Country Woman. She is the founding editor of Feminartsy and has been published widely including Junkee, Women’s Agenda and The Canberra Times. Today she is joining us as the head of the 2021 Stella Prize Judging Panel.The Stella Prize is an annual award open to books published by women and non-binary writers. It’s now in its ninth year and always offers up an incredible selection of titles.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Lawrie McMahon discussing his debut novel As Swallows FlyToday on the show...In rural Pakistan Malika is entrusted to the care of Ayesha after her parents are killed in an accident. She grows up along another survivor, Tahir, gradually becoming part of the village life. As Malika is entrusted with more responsibility it emerges that she has an extraordinary intelligence. Malika’s talents are destined to take her away from the village until a violent betrayal threatens her entire world.In Melbourne Kate is piecing together her life after the death of her mother. She’s always leant on her career as a surgeon and has little to show in the way of personal relationships. When a young woman from PAkistan enters her life, will she finally learn to open up to others?Join me as we discover L.P. McMahon’s As Swallows Fly...
Iain Ryan is the Ned Kelly Shortlisted author of Four Days and the Student.In the Spiral...Erma Bridges is tired. She just got off a thirty six hour flight to answer as yet unknown charges of misconduct from her university. A university where young women are disappearing at an alarming rate. A university where one young woman, Erma’s missing research assistant, is about to reappear and brutally attack Erma for seemingly no discernible reason.When Erma wakes from the shocking attack she must try and piece together what has happened to her life. Why did her research assistant turn on her. Did it have anything to do with her book on the History of Reader Deployed Young Adult Fiction and the missing interviews with an elusive author?Ryan’s opening immediately throws the reader off balance. Erma is seemingly being targeted on all sides by forces she can barely comprehend.As she throws herself into Brisbane’s underworld in the search for answers she must also confront her own part in the unfolding events.Erma’s story in The Spiral is twinned with that of a mysterious barbarian named Sero. Sero emerges from Erma’s unconscious and moves inexorably forward in a quest to recover their memory.Sero is all brute strength and violence, occupying a world straight out of horror/fantasy.The fascinating conceit of Sero’s existence is they are told through the second person. The being, seemingly of Erma’s creation becomes a proxy for our own movement through the narrative.Identification and control are central to Ryan’s unfolding story. Erma does not like having control wrested from her. Behind the academic sounding title Erma’s thesis is focussed on Choose Your Own Adventure books (remember them?) and she seeks the certainties of choice and consequence those books offered her as a teen.Sero seems drawn straight from one of these books but their path is linear, no choices but to move forward. That is until Erma is brought to a crisis point.Approaching its penultimate moments The Spiral shifts into a Choose Your Own adventure style, circuitous narrative.The reader is dazzled with the illusion of control. Seemingly we hold both Erma and Sero’s fates in our hands.This is the fun and the fascination of The Spiral. By giving us control, the story is seeking to challenge our assumption about what control even means.I think more than a few readers will be unsettled by their own presumption of sitting above the narrative. That it’s some sort of entertainment that we can dip in and out of.The Spiral also explores the exercise of control in our own world. Power and its uses to control are at the centre of our public consciousness at the moment. While it would be too much to say that The Spiral is talking directly to this moment, it offers some perspectives on how control operates, particularly against women.The Spiral is taut and thrilling. It is experimental and baffling. It is an absolute gripping read and I highly recommend it.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part two of Yassmin Abdel-Magied discussing her new YA novel Listen, LaylaToday on the show...Layla is an inventor. After winning a scholarship to an exclusive school she is now preparing for the Grand Designs Tourismo which will take her to Germany and working her hardest to win a place on the Special International Invention Tour. But Layla’s plans for conquering the world with her inventions hit a hurdle when her family must travel to Sudan to be at her grandmother’s bedside. This trip challenges Layla to discover who she is beyond the world of her inventors workshop...Join me as we discover Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s Listen, Layla...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Yassmin Abdel-Magied discussing her new YA novel Listen, LaylaToday on the show...Layla is an inventor. After winning a scholarship to an exclusive school she is now preparing for the Grand Designs Tourismo which will take her to Germany and working her hardest to win a place on the Special International Invention Tour. But Layla’s plans for conquering the world with her inventions hit a hurdle when her family must travel to Sudan to be at her grandmother’s bedside. This trip challenges Layla to discover who she is beyond the world of her inventors workshop...Join me as we discover Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s Listen, Layla...
Today I have a novel of Sydney that has become a favourite already of my reading this year.Kavita Bedford is an Australian-Indian author and freelance journalist. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian and Griffith Review. But it is Kavita’s debut novel Friends & Dark Shapes that I want to talk about today.In Friends & Dark Shapes four friends move into a share-house in Redfern. Over the course of four seasons the group must navigate communal living as both a necessity of their late twenties existence and a reality of the increasing inaccessibility of the gentrifying city.From toilet rolls and the dishwashing roster, share-house living is opened up and the reader is invited to navigate space in a city that is always shifting and seemingly forever out of reach.The narrative of Friends & Dark Shapes is comprised of vignettes taking us around Sydney and into small moments of life. The narrator welcomes the reader into her world and juxtaposes people and places with their parallels in her past.Negotiating between the contemporary and a kind of nostalgia is a necessary battle as it is in these past moments that the narrator vividly recollects her father. Their bond and the ways they traversed the city through exploration and ritual make the seeming patchwork of streets and suburbs a comfortable terrain.As we move around Sydney, in space and in time, we are confronted with the ways people live their lives, often siloed from neighbours in nearby suburbs. Within the share-house there is a sense of permanent impermanence. The group knows this is not their forever home but cannot perhaps conceive of what such a place might look like.The uncertainty of place and belonging is explored the various communities we visit. While working on a story the narrator takes us to Villawood and the home of migrants who have settled in a house overlooking the temporary home they occupied when they first arrived. The detention centre is now a space shut off and barricaded to serve as a deterrent.In some ways it seems that the novel is posing a question of who can belong. Whether through barbed wire fences or sky rocketing house prices home and belonging are strictly controlled and for many Sydney is a liminal space.Ultimately though Friends & Dark Shapes is a gorgeous meditation on movement. The novel had me reflecting on the ways I move through life, through relationships and yes through this city.As I record this just outside of Sydney in the Blue Mountains, I find Friends & Dark Shapes takes me back to the streets and the people that I have loved.When I spoke with Kavita for Final Draft she compared our conversation to a virtual walk through Sydney. I think that’s a good metaphor for the experience of reading Friends & Dark ShapesThis is a soulful novel that I would highly recommend
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sydney Writers Festival Artistic Director Michael Williams discussing the 2021 programToday on the show...Michael Williams has joined the Sydney Writers Festival as its artistic director for 2021 following Michaela McGuire leaving to take the helm at Melbourne Writers Festival. It’s like the two passed each other somewhere around Albury as Michael was the director of Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre for more than a decade. He’s also been a presenter on Radio National and RRR down in Melbourne. And Michael has joined the festival in the wake of the cancellation of last year's festival due to Covid.We’re all excited to see a return to the stages and talks and Michael has put together a program worth anticipatingJoin me as Michael Williams takes us through the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Pip Drysdale discussing her new novel The Paris AffairToday on the show...Harper Brown has arrived in Paris to live her dream. She’s leaving her romantic baggage behind and starting a job at an online magazine as its new art & culture writer.This is Paris and a small borrowed apartment and rude co-workers are just part of the charm. Except Harper’s nourishing dreams of becoming a hard-hitting reporter and the arrogant git currently doing that job is ignoring her warnings that a serial killer may be stalking women on the streets of Paris.
Laura Jean McKay is the winner of the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.The Animals in That Country takes us north. Jean is a guide in a wildlife preserve. Irascibly anti-social, Jean drinks too much, smokes too much and picks fights online. Except for Thursdays when she cleans herself up and looks after her granddaughter. Jeans son Lee may have done a runner, but he did leave behind Kimberly and Jean is fiercely protective of Kim, even if Kim’s mum Ange has little time for Jean.Jean and Kimberly love to plan for the day when they will have their own wildlife preserve. They carefully scrapbook their ideas, even as the news warns them of an illness spreading in the south.Zooflu has hit the southern states hard, bringing flu-like symptoms, pink eyes and the ability to talk to animals!Soon the park must close their gates and quarantine themselves against the pandemic, because who knows what the rescued animals will have to say about their captivity?The Animals in That Country is part domestic drama, part road trip and part post apocalyptic dystopia.Zooflu is greeted by many as an awakening of consciousness (who doesn’t want to hear how much their pets love them) but soon turns sour as humans find they cannot tolerate what they are being told.McKay very quickly helps us understand that we are not the center of the universe anymore. That is if we ever were. The narrative shows us that whether we like it or not we are super-apex predators and all our illusions of benevolence fall away in the face of terrified creatures who only recognises humans as the gatekeeper of their freedom.As the narrative progresses we see the gradual unravelling of society as people are faced with the wholesale changes Zooflu forces onto the world. There’s no way McKay could have foreseen what 2020 would confront us with and yet she’s given us a dramatic depiction of a society in flux.The Animals in That Country poses a particularly sticky linguistic dilemma that seemed to me to resonate with all the shouty internet goings on that plague our lives. Because sure humans with Zooflu can decode what the animals around them are saying but often hearing does not equal understanding. And so we get some really strange and surrealistic communiques...I mean why would you assume that a wallaby or a croc is going to talk to you like your best friend? Communication is about sharing something and taking the time to listen, even try to empathise with the other person.And so it is Kimberly who teaches Jean; it’s not enough to just listen, she has to face up to the animals. Look at their bodies, their actions, their scents. Jean learns that she has to consider the animals perspectives to make sense of what they want to say.Maybe I’m wrong, but how often do we do that day to day - actually try to take another’s perspective into consideration before we just keep talking??The Animals in That Country represents a dystopia for some, a utopia for others. It’s a book of ideas wrapped in a page turning, breakneck narrative.Check out my interview with Laura...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kavita Bedford discussing her debut novel Friends & Dark ShapesToday on the show...Four friends move into a share-house in Redfern. Over the course of four seasons the friends navigate communal living and try to get a handle on whether this is in fact their lives or just another stepping stone towards a place everyone else seems to have reached.From toilet rolls and the dishwashing roster, to navigating space in a city that is always shifting and seemingly forever out of reach; Friends & Dark Shapes explores love, longing and loss in Sydney.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features A B Endacott discussing storytelling in her essay Mirror Mirror.Mirror Mirror explores our propensity as storytellers. Every day our world is filled with stories; stories we consume and especially those we tell.These stories help us shape our world, but how do we influence those stories and how in turn do those stories reflect our culture?Join me as we discover A.B. Endacott’s Mirror Mirror.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Loraine Peck discussing her debut thriller The Second SonToday on the show...Johnny Novak’s a family man; beautiful wife, young son, his mum & dad live two blocks away, his brother Ivan lives two blocks in the other direction.Johnny even works in the family business, although as the second son he’s always let his older brother do the heavy lifting.Then one evening around dusk Ivan is gunned down in his driveway. A killing that threatens to erupt Sydney into all out warfare!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features J.P. Pomare discussing his latest thriller Tell Me LiesToday on the show...Margot is a successful psychologist; thriving practice, beautiful family and an academic interest in antisocial personality disorder. On an otherwise uneventful night Margot is woken by the sound of broken glass. The family escapes through their open front door to see flames blooming from Margot’s office window. Someone has firebombed their house!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part two of Kirsty Everett discussing her compelling memoir Honey Blood.At age nine Kirsty Everett defied the odds and beat a cancer diagnosis. Kirsty was a successful gymnast and embraced life every way she could. Despite this tough battle, nothing could prepare Kirsty for when her cancer returned in her teens.Honey Blood is the inspirational true story of Kirsty's survival and thriving.Kirsty Everett's Honey Blood is produced and presented by Briannah Devlin
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kirsty Everett discussing her compelling memoir Honey Blood.At age nine Kirsty Everett defied the odds and beat a cancer diagnosis. Kirsty was a successful gymnast and embraced life every way she could. Despite this tough battle, nothing could prepare Kirsty for when her cancer returned in her teens.Honey Blood is the inspirational true story of Kirsty's survival and thriving.Kirsty Everett's Honey Blood is produced and presented by Briannah Devlin
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Iain Ryan discussing his latest noir thriller The SpiralToday on the show...Erma Bridges is tired. She just got off a red eye to answer as yet unknown charges of misconduct from her university. A university where Erma is writing a book on the History of Reader Deployed Young Adult Fiction (Choose Your Own Adventure books ‘natch’). A university where young women are disappearing at an alarming rate. A university where one young woman, Erma’s missing research assistant, is about to reappear and brutally attack Erma for seemingly no discernible reason.Join me as we discover Iain Ryan’s The Spiral.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Rebecca Lim discussing her YA own voices novel Tiger DaughterToday on the show...Wen and Henry are friends, drawn together as the children of migrants as well as by shared dreams of escaping their suburban school and its petty racism.Wen loves to read and draw but her father sees these are frivolous pursuits. So she and Henry dream of sitting the selective schools exam and escaping to a high school that will nurture their talents and offer them something more.Their plan is on track, even if Wen hasn’t told her parents, until one day when Henry doesn’t turn up to school.Join me as we discover Rebecca Lim’s Tiger Daughter...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Laura Jean McKay discussing her Victorian Premiers Literary Award winning novel The Animals in That Country.The Animals in That Country explores a pandemic sweeping across Australia that leaves the infected with mild cold symptoms, pink eyes and the ability to hear and communicate with animals!The story takes us into a conservation reserve where Jean works as a guide; as much from her love of animals as her love for her grand-daughter Kimberly. Initially the reserve is free from Zooflu, but how long can the quarantine last and can Jean protect Kimberly?!Join me as we discover Laura Jean McKay’s The Animals in That Country...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kirli Saunders discussing her verse novel Bindi.Today on the show...Bindi is eleven years old. She loves art and hockey, even if her team never wins. It’s a new school year and Bindi is looking forward to new teachers and seeing her friends.But this year the town is in drought and the biggest bushfire Bindi’s dad has ever seen is bearing down on the townJoin me as we discover Kirli Saunders’s Bindi...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part two of Will Kostakis discussing his fantasy series Monuments.Today on the show...Connor, Sally and Locky should be just ordinary teens; skipping class and dealing with friendship dramas. But there’s a pantheon of ancient gods known as Monuments hidden beneath high schools across Sydney. As they race to find the Monuments and deal with their power, Locky Connor and Sally must confront the danger of the hounds, rebel gods and the question of who, if anyone, has the right to control so much power.Join me as we discover Will Kostakis’s Rebel Gods...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features part one of Will Kostakis discussing his fantasy series Monuments.Today on the show...Connor, Sally and Locky should be just ordinary teens; skipping class and dealing with friendship dramas. But there’s a pantheon of ancient gods known as Monuments hidden beneath high schools across Sydney. As they race to find the Monuments and deal with their power, Locky Connor and Sally must confront the danger of the hounds, rebel gods and the question of who, if anyone, has the right to control so much power.Join me as we discover Will Kostakis’s Rebel Gods...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Garry Disher discussing his new rural noir Consolation.Paul Hirschhausen is the only cop in the poorly heated police station in Tiverton. He was run out of Adelaide when he turned whistle-blower on corruption. But the town has come to know him, he’s setting down roots. But then there’s always an edge when police are around.Now Hirsch has got a father & son on the run, armed and dangerous. The local music festival looks like it’s going belly up and someone is sneaking around stealing women’s underwear in the night.Join me as we discover Garry Disher’s Consolation...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Garry Disher discussing his new rural noir Consolation.Paul Hirschhausen is the only cop in the poorly heated police station in Tiverton. He was run out of Adelaide when he turned whistle-blower on corruption. But the town has come to know him, he’s setting down roots. But then there’s always an edge when police are around.Now Hirsch has got a father & son on the run, armed and dangerous. The local music festival looks like it’s going belly up and someone is sneaking around stealing women’s underwear in the night.Join me as we discover Garry Disher’s Consolation...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Karen Wyld discussing her novel Where the Fruit Falls.Where the Fruit Falls is an epic narrative chronicling four generations of a family across the twentieth century. The novel centers on a young aboriginal woman, Brigid Devlin and her daughters Maggie and Victoria.Brigid leaves her home following a willy wagtail to her one true love. Her journey takes her across diverse and changing landscapes showing her her country and the lands of her kin but also reveals the hate and fear that has torn those families apart. As Brigid continues to walk in search of love, family and identity she must also discover the connections that have always existed inside herself...Join me as we discover Karen Wyld’s Where the Fruit Falls...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sofie Laguna discussing her novel Infinite Splendours.*Content Warning - This podcast discussion explores childhood trauma and may not be suitable for some listenersLawrence lives an idyllic life with his mother and younger brother Paul. Lawrie’s father was killed in the second world war and the boys roam free around their homestead in the shadows of the Grampians.Lawrie’s a good student, and a faithful brother and son. Art is his passion and Lawrie can see the world differently to others until a horrific trauma robs him of his sense of freedom in the world.Join me as we discover Sofie Laguna’s Infinite Splendours.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Ceridwen Dovey discussing her new novel Life After Truth.On the eve of their fifteenth reunion five friends return to Harvard University; the scene of their fondest memories. Now spread around the world, the reunion propels them back towards younger conceptions for themselves.Unfortunately a reunion is not limited to friends and the group must confront old flames, bullies and the ubiquitous jerk, now the son of the American President.Fred Reese is one of the most despised men in the country but when he winds up dead - did anyone hate him enough to kill him?In part two of our conversation Ceridwen discusses themes of parenthood and power, post humanism and android selves, as well as addressing some of the political parallels Life After Truth throws up.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Ceridwen Dovey discussing her new novel Life After Truth.On the eve of their fifteenth reunion five friends return to Harvard University; the scene of their fondest memories. Now spread around the world, the reunion propels them back towards younger conceptions for themselves.Unfortunately a reunion is not limited to friends and the group must confront old flames, bullies and the ubiquitous jerk, now the son of the American President.Fred Reese is one of the most despised men in the country but when he winds up dead - did anyone hate him enough to kill him?In part one of our conversation Ceridwen discusses ideas around genre and flipping the murder/mystery on its head.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode is a special bonus featuring an essay on Australia's literary culture.As part of 2ser's 40th birthday celebrations Andrew created a piece exploring where we are at with our reading and writing; looking forward to the work still to be done.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode takes us back to November 2015 and Charlotte Wood's fifth novel The Natural Way of Things.In a desolate outback town a group of women awaken to find themselves imprisoned. Strangers to each other they are locked away for reasons only dimly apparent. At the mercy of increasingly brutal captors, in turn the servants of a distant master, will these women be able to understand their fate and escape the shackles of their present?...Thank you for joining me on this encore performance. This interview has never been broadcast in its entirety.It was a journey to listen back to this interview which was such a favourite at the time of recording. Taking the time to listen back has taught me a lot about my recording, editing and interviewing style and allowed me to learn from my past experiences.I hope you enjoy this favourite and timeless Australian novel. Thanks for joining me each week to discover Australian literature!Andrew
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Petronella McGovern discussing her new novel The Good Teacher.The beginning of the school year brings a late enrollment into Allison Walsh’s Kindergarten class. Gracie has moved to Wirriga to be closer to the hospitals and treatments that hold the only hope for saving her young life.Allison prides herself as a caring person but since her husband left, taking their son she's been struggling. Taking Gracie and her Dad into her home Allison determines to save the family. But can she help this little girl with the tragic story, and what are the lines that a good teacher should never cross?Join me as we discover Petronella McGovern’s The Good Teacher...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Paul Dalgarno discussing his new novel Poly.Poly is the story of Chris and Sarah, or maybe it’s the story of Chris and Biddy, or it might even be the story of Chris and Zac because Chris and his wife have decided to have an open relationship. After years of marriage Chris and Sarah figure this could be what their relationship needs to stay vital.As they try to be radically open and honest with each other Chris finds out that jealousy is more than a little difficult to suppress.And while going Poly may mean twice the love Chris is also finding out it’s sometimes more than twice the work...Join me as we discover Paul Dalgarno’s Poly...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Anna Whately discussing her debut novel Peta Lyre's Rating Normal.Peta Lyre lives in a world that isn’t made for her brain. She’s got an alphabet to contend with and a list of rules about what to do and what to avoid. But she’s also got her best friend Jeb and the school ski trip to look forward to.When a new girl starts at school, Peta suddenly finds herself with two best friends and a whole lot of confusion.Peta’s always been told she needs to follow the rules to be normal. But is normal really the best thing for her?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Laura Elvery discussing her latest story collection Ordinary Matter.Ordinary Matter celebrates an extraordinary group of women who have won the Nobel prize for Science.Laura imaginatively recreates moments and imagines worlds that explore the creative lives that have changed the ways we look at science.Told through a selection of vignettes and short stories; we have a brother remembering his sisters talent for painting, a couple reuniting on a train to Paris and a woman thrown into a strange and shadowy world of bureaucracy after an incredible find on a beach.Join me as we discover Laura Elvery’s Ordinary Matter.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Rawah Arja discussing her debut novel The F Team.Tariq’s got his life together. He’s got his boys, the girls all love him and school’s a breeze… except for the bit where the media says they’re terrorists in training and the department of education is going to shut them down.But Tariq and his friends have a chance; play in a footy comp, with some white boys from Cronulla, and actually become a team. If Tariq can pull all that off his whole world might not implode.Discover Rawah Arja's The F Team
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jock Serong discussing his new novel The Burning Island.In 1830’s Sydney Eliza Grayling is something of an oddity; too tall, too old too sure of herself without a man to marry; she teaches unappreciative children and wonders what the world might have in store for a woman such as her.When the merchant Srinivas appears in search of her father, Eliza is thrown into a world of old enmities and new perils. Guiding her now blind father aboard the ship Moonbird with its ragtag crew of misfits, Eliza embarks on a journey to discover and perhaps settle score with the mysterious figure of Mr Figge…Join me as we discover Jock Serong’s The Burning Island
Books don’t just emerge fully formed on our bookshelves. Writing NSW is at the heart of our writing community providing support to writers across their careers through festivals, courses and opportunities to network. All that is at risk following a funding announcement by Create NSW that ends Writing NSW’s ongoing state funding. The funding slashes a third of Writing NSW budget at a time when Coronavirus restrictions have already shut down so many events and opportunities for writers.Writing NSW CEO Jane McCredie joined Andrew to discuss these funding challenges and what they tell us about how the arts are valued in the community at large.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Georgina Young discussing her debut novel Loner.Lona is stubborn, creative & wilful. She dropped out of uni because she’d rather be making art than handing in 2000 words on what art is in a world that would rather talk about the weather.Understandably she’s often her own worst enemy, but if she can survive pushing trolleys for a living and DJing the under 12’s roller disco then just maybe she can figure the rest out too.Join me as we discover Georgina Young’s Loner
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kate & Jol Temple discussing the third instalment in their Alice Toolie series The Battle of Book Week.Everyone knows Book Week is the best week in the school year. Alice Toolie has secured the coveted title of library monitor and has some ingenious ideas for making it a spectacular event. But her best frenemy Jimmy simply won’t let her of easy. Alice has suspended his borrowing rights until Jimmy returns his overdue loans. Jimmy won;t let Alice trample all over his borrowing rights and decides to run against her for library monitor status. Who will prevail and will it steal the thunder of the not particularly famous authors coming to visit the school?!Join me as we discover Kate & Jol Temple’s The Battle of Book Week
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Ashley Kalagian Blunt discussing her memoir How to Be Australian.Ashley Kalagian Blunt escaped the positively arctic climate of Winnipeg to study in Australia. How to be Australian is her journey to becoming an Australian citizen, trying to convince her partner Steve to pack up his life and move and figuring out what this country of strange noises and even stranger birds is all about. Ashley has penned an outsider’s view on life down that explores our history and our present and what it might mean to come to terms with them to become Australian.Join me as we discover Ashley Kalagian Blunt’s How to be Australian.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Chistopher Raja discussing his memoir Into the Suburbs.Christopher Raja was eleven years old when his mother and father moved the family from Calcutta to Melbourne in the 1980s. The contrast is immediate; from the densely populated streets of Calcutta he is transported to a world that is almost unbearably quiet. Where previously he had family surrounding him, not even his relatives keep to their manicured quarter acre blocks. In this new world Christopher must face down racism and discover new ways of being to make the suburbs of Melbourne into something he can call home.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Victoria Hannan discussing her debut novel Kokomo.Victoria Hannan is a writer and photographer living in Melbourne. Kokomo, her first novel, was the winner of the 2019 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.Mina has lived in London for seven years. Good job, nice apartment and then there’s Jack.Mina’s mum Elaine hasn’t left the house for eleven years. Mina doesn’t like it. Maybe she even left for London to escape it. But that’s just the way things have been since her dad died.That’s her life until a call arrives from Melbourne “Mina it’s your mum, she’s left the house”.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Karen Wyld discussing we live on, in story her story in the anthology After Australia.After Australia offers a selection of twelve incredible Indigenous Writers and Writers of Colour including Ambellin Kwaymullina, Omar Sakr, Future D Fidel and Zoya Patel. Together they imagine Australia for 2050 and beyond.Karen Wyld’s debut novel is 2013’s When Rosa Came Home. She is the winner of the 2020 Dorothy Hewitt award for an unpublished manuscript. She is the author of we live on, in story in the After Australia Anthology of speculative fiction.We live on, in story chronicles generations of a family weaving through their history and into untold and deliberately forgotten stories...Join me as we discover Karen Wyld's we live on, in story
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Hannah Donnelly discussing her work in the anthology After Australia.After Australia offers a selection of twelve incredible Indigenous Writers and Writers of Colour including Ambellin Kwaymullina, Karen Wyld, Omar Sakr, Future D Fidel and Zoya Patel. Together they imagine Australia for 2050 and beyond.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Khalid Warsame discussing his story in the anthology After Australia.After Australia offers a selection of twelve incredible Indigenous Writers and Writers of Colour including Ambellin Kwaymullina, Karen Wyld, Omar Sakr, Future D Fidel and Zoya Patel. Together they imagine Australia for 2050 and beyond.Khalid is a Melbourne based writer, editor, and arts producer. He’s a former fiction editor at the Lifted Brow and co-director of the National Young Writers Festival, and is also writing his first novel.Khalid’s story in the anthology is List of Known Remedies. It’s a seemingly innocuous tale of friendship, relationships and a sick dog that hides a startling and sinister future…Join me as we discover Khalid Warsame’s List of Known Remedies
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Michael Mohammed Ahmad discussing the anthology After Australia.After Australia offers a selection of twelve incredible Indigenous Writers and Writers of Colour including Ambellin Kwaymullina, Karen Wyld, Omar Sakr, Future D Fidel and Zoya Patel. Together they imagine Australia for 2050 and beyond.Michael Mohammed Ahmad is the author of The Tribe and The Lebs, as well as the founding Director of Sweatshop. He has edited the collection.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Robbie Arnott discussing his new novel The Rain Heron.In the forest near a small town Ren has driven herself to a life of solitude after her world was torn apart by the violence of a military coup that has overtaken the country. Ren lives by her wits; hunting and bartering with a local man for the bare necessities of life.When the military arrive, lead by the brutally resourceful Harker, Ren believes she can outlast them. But the military have set their sigs on an impossibility. The mythical Rain Heron is the stuff of legend, but Harker has been tasked with finding it and bringing it back and she believes Ren knows where it is…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kate Grenville discussing her new novel A Room Made of Leaves.Elizabeth Macarthur arrived in New South Wales aboard the convict ship Scarborough in 1790. The twenty four year gentlewoman had arrived with her husband, an officer in the New South Wales Corps. She would live in New South Wales until her death in 1850, playing a key role in establishing the wool industry that would occupy so much of early Australia.Much of what we know of Elizabeth Macarthur comes from her letters to family in England. But what if there was more…Kate Grenville’s A Room Made of Leaves opens up the possibility that Elizabeth Macarthur wrote a frank and potentially scandalous memoir of her life. Freed by death, distance and time this Elizabeth is able to reflect on her life and the folly and cruelties of the English invasion of what would come to be known as Australia.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sulari Gentill discussing her new novel A Testament of Character.Rowland’s adventures have kept him away from Australia and before returning home he must divert his path again, this time to America. Rowland is summoned to take on the sad duty of executor of his old friend Daniel Cartwright’s estate.Cartwright has been murdered and Rowland arrives in Boston to a family tempest as the Cartwright’s fight to see Daniel’s fortune settled on them. When the Will bequeaths the estate to a mysterious stranger named Otis Norcross it soon becomes clear that Rowland is going to have a job of keeping both himself and Daniel’s intentions in one piece.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Christine Bell discussing his debut novel No Small Shame.1909 - In the mining town of Bothwellhaugh, Scotland, Mary O’Donnell and Liam Merilees promise each other that they will make something more of their lives than the tiny town has to offer.Four years later and the families have emigrated to Australia and the equally small town of Wonthagee. When Mary arrives Liam is changed. No longer the carefree friend of their youth. So what remains of their dreams and what can they make of the promise Australia offered?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Mike McLeish discussing his new novel with Fiona Harris The Drop Off.Every morning at Baytree Primary Lizzie, Megan and Sam convene over coffee as their kids trundle off to class. They’re a self contained trio; Lizzie a midwife, Megan a former model turned designer and Sam an ex-chef. Enthusiastic parents in activewear need not apply, these three have their morning friendship and that’s enough for them.But then tragedy strikes the school as the beloved lollipop man dies. And somehow Megan has been roped into producing the end of year play?!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kay Kerr discussing her debut novel Please Don't Hug Me.High school is tough for everyone, but Erin has to wonder if someone is trying to make it especially difficult. She’s been fired from her job for dropping truth bombs and her clique of friends are the sort you’re sometimes better off without.Erin’s trying to complete high school and schoolies is the unofficial/official finishing line. Erin is on the autism spectrum but only a few people know. Her best friend Dee is always ready with doughnuts to fix a bad day, and her new friend Aggie just knows the right thing to say. But Erin still has to figure out her world and where she fits in it. She has a one of a kind brain and what she really wants is to talk with her big brother Rudy about how he survived high school.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Madeleine Watts discussing her debut novel The Inland Sea.The unnamed narrator of The Inland Sea, has recently left the comfort of university with barely a vague plan for what comes next in her life. She falls into a job as an emergency call centre operator. There she listens day in and day out as disasters befall callers around the country. As she jots down these moments in her notepad she becomes fascinated with the kinds of tragedies that fill her world, little realising the impending climate cataclysm awaiting us all.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Chris Flynn discussing his new novel Mammoth.In an auction house in New York a Mammoth and a Tyrannosaurus Bataar while away the hours before their sale by recounting tales of their past. Joined by a prehistoric penguin, the pharaoh Hatshepsut and a pterodactyl the group take us on a journey into our modern world by way of the destruction us bipeds have caused to create it...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Suzanne Leal discussing her new novel The Deceptions.The Deceptions is a story that emerges out of the second world war. On the order of the occupying Nazi invaders, Jewish residents of Prague are interred in the fortress town of Terezin, in what would be known as the Theresienstadt ghetto.Hanah is one of those imprisoned in Theresienstadt; watching and waiting as residents slowly leave on unknowable transports. When a local gendarme begins to show Hanah attention she realises this might be a chance for survival, but at what cost?Out of these terrible times emerge stories and secrets that continue to reverberate through to our modern day...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Vivian Pham discussing her debut novel The Coconut Children.Vince has returned to the streets of his youth, not yet old, but legendary after a two year stint in juvenile detention. It’s Cabramatta in the late 90’s and as the suburb and the schools struggle to contain Vince’s vitality, Sonny can only watch on from afar.Sonny and Vince were childhood friends. But now Sonny is grappling with her own growing maturity and cannot fathom that the almost mythological figure of Vince might even notice her as she watches from the window next door...
M.J. Tjia is the nom de plume of Mirandi Riwoe.We featured Mirandi's latest novel Stone Sky Gold Mountain on this week's show and as a special bonus we've dipped back into the archive for a conversation from 2017 between Andrew and Mirandi about her first novel featuring Victorian detective Heloise Chancey, She Be Damned.She Be Damned opens on Victorian London in its heyday; as the city expands and the population booms London is a city divided. Society doyens need never bother themselves that women are being brutally killed and mutilated across the river in Waterloo. Heloise Chancey lives with a foot in both worlds. Styling herself a courtesan, she works for her intellectual pleasure as a private detective and is drawn into the gruesome murders when the daughter of a gentleman goes missing.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Mirandi Riwoe discussing her latest novel Stone Sky Gold Mountain.Stone Sky Gold Mountain transports the reader to the Queensland gold fields of the mid nineteenth century. Siblings Ying and Lai Yue have left their homes in China and travelled to Australia to seek enough money to restore their family.Ying must disguise herself, passing as a boy, lest her gender see her taken advantage of and brutalised. As a male she discovers freedoms denied her as a woman but also sees the restrictions she lives under. When Ying & Lai Yue realise they cannot survive on mere gold dust they move to Maytown; the settlement established to furnish the goldfields.In Maytown, Meriam and Sophie live on the outskirts. Meriam longs for her old life and bristles at the town’s treatment of her as the maid of a sex worker.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Tara Moss discussing her latest novel The Cobra Queen.The Cobra Queen transports us to New York city where Pandora English is establishing herself in the world of fashion and trying to come to terms with her role as a supernatural saviour in the upcoming apocalypse.Whilst on a fashion shoot at New York’s Metropolitan museum of Art, Pandora notices strange goings on around an upcoming exhibition on the Pharaoh Hatshepsut. The female pharaoh was nearly erased from the historical record following her death, so why might she be turning up in New York city?Join me as we discover Tara Moss’s The Cobra Queen
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Karina Kilmore discussing her debut novel Where the Truth Lies.Chrissy O’Brian is an investigative journalist who’s had to escape her home town after becoming the center of her own story. She’s come to Melbourne to heal, to escape, perhaps to forget. She’s landed a job at the Argus in a time of layoffs and is no one's best friend for the fact. When a puff piece profile interview turns dark and a young woman dies, Chrissy decides to investigate whether her boss gives her the go ahead or not...Join me as we discover Karina Kilmore ’s Where the Truth Lies
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Terence J Quinn discussing his new book Deadline.Johnno Bligh’s living a peaceful life in Sydney having survived pirates and prison. Contemplating his next project is headhunted by a Russian Oligarch to head up the British Tabloid UK Today as its editor.Uprooting his young family and peaceful existence, Johnno heads to London and headlong into conspiracy, terror and treason.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jeremy Lachlan discussing his new book Jane Doe and The Key of all Souls.The Jane Doe chronicles began in the far away somewhere land of Bluehaven. Jane lives a thankless life caring for her father and avoiding the entire township who believe that she is cursed.When Jane narrowly escapes ritual sacrifice to appease the mythical manor, she must plunge headlong into the Manor to rescue her father. There she discovers she is not alone. The villainous Roth and his army of Leatherheads are scouring the Manor for the Cradle key; a mythical object that will give its possessor control of all the worlds.In the Key of all Souls Jane has narrowly escaped Roth but finds herself trapped in Arakaan. This desert world has been decimated by Roth’s armies and Jane finds herself at the mercy of Elsa; herself a refugee from the Manor.Not knowing who to trust; Jane must unite the keys and return to the Manor before Roth opens the cradle and destroys not just Jane’s loved ones but all the united worlds!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Louise Park discussing her new book 7 Steps to Get Your Child Reading7 Steps to Get Your Child Reading takes on the challenge of helping engage Gen Alpha; the first generation born with devices in their hands with the skills of reading. The book shares insights, research and strategies for helping maximise children’s developing literacy as they grow. With increased screen time a growing challenge and declining literacy levels across the country it’s especially directed at the current generation of children and the unique challenges of developing literacy in a digital world.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features J.P. Pomare discussing his new novel In the Clearing.On a hot, humid, Australian summer day a van waits by an isolated road as an eight year girl disembarks from her school bus. As the bus disappears the van accelerates, its occupants dragging the girl inside and drugging her into unconsciousness. The young girl is being taken to the clearing and she is to be the eleventh of the twelve; children of the mother.Freya lives in seclusion defiant in her freedom and independence but also captive to her secrets. When the news reports a kidnapped child her mind immediately races to her son and she fears for his safety.
The Australian Classics Book Club is a monthly exploration of Australian writing; looking back over the forgotten, the classic, the much discussed and underappreciated in Australian Letters.On Acland St, in Melbourne’s beach side suburb of St Kilda sits a Cafe named Scheherazade. Martin is a journalist there to write a story on the cafe’s founders Avram and Masha Zeleznikow. No sooner has he begun than Martin knows that this will be no ordinary column. As voices fill the air of Scheherazade on a nightly basis, Martin comes to bear witness to the history that had seen so many flee their homes in Europe and converge on Melbourne for a new beginning and a chance to heal.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Miles Franklin award winning author Evie Wyld discussing her new novel The Bass Rock.The Bass Rock weaves together three narratives across the centuries exploring the pervasive violence that women must live with daily. The novel opens on a scene of a child and her mother walking on the beach, about to make a gruesome discovery. We then meet Vivian arriving in town late at night to catalogue the estate of her grandmother Ruth. In post war Scotland Ruth arrives at her new home unsure of her place and her role in the lives of her adopted children. And some centuries earlier Sarah must flee her village after she is charged with witchcraft and faces brutality at the hands of the townsfolk and burning at the stake.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Luke Arnold discussing his debut novel The Last Smile in Sunder City.In Sunder City Fetch Phillips is a man for hire, but he doesn’t work for humans and sobriety is extra. Sunder City is a melting pot of magical folk from fae to werewolves and demons. Since the Coda though there’s no magic. Fetch is a gumshoe with pretty manky old shoes. He needs a case and his latest client needs him to find a vampire.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Alison Evans discussing their new novel Euphoria Kids.Euphoria Kids is the story of Iris and Babs. They go to the same school but don’t know each other. Ever since a witch cursed her as a child Babs periodically becomes invisible. It makes it hard to find friends until one day Iris sees her on the bus. Iris grew from a seed in the garden and has always had more kinship with the fairies and dryads that live in the bush. Together they find each other and something of their place in the world until rumblings among the fae reveal that the witch who cursed Babs has returned to the forest...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Laura McPhee-Browne discussing her debut novel Cherry Beach.Cherry Beach is the story of a friendship; Hetty and Ness have been friends since childhood and now they are in Toronto discovering something of life and themselves. It's a story of great beauty, love and loss.
Final Draft's Great Conversations is returning for 2020!Bringing you latest releases and classic Australian literature. Join Andrew every week as he sits down with Australian writers and together they get to the heart of their work.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Fleur McDonald discussing her new outback thriller Starting From Now.Zara Ellison is a reporter with the Farming Telegraph, just finishing up a big story of a protest gone wrong resulting in a man’s death, when she gets the call from home. Her brother’s cancer has progressed and he has maybe a few months left. Packing up her Adelaide apartment, Zara returns to Barker, a town that has always felt too small and a life that she left as a teenager off to boarding school with dreams of the world.
One of my goals at Final Draft is to present Australian writing and Australian writers in a way that might intrigue and captivate, perhaps challenge but never judge. Having the extraordinary opportunity to meet and discuss with so many literary minds I’d prefer if they hold the stage so that you, the listener can get more of the books you love.I don’t always love every book that I read, but I also understand that many of these books will have readers that love them. I also understand that these books are not written exclusively for my personal edification and so I try to approach them with an open heart.It’s quite difficult then for me to collate a list of the best or select from a certain period books that are more worthy than others. I have huge respect for those who can and I eagerly devour awards list and wrap ups, but I guess I’ve always been a little reluctant. I mean, I read a lot, but nothing close to every single Australian release in a given period so I won’t even pretend to in the entire scope of Aussie writing.This then is a list of books that have personally impacted me this year. They’re all 2019 releases and all Australian; which meant a few books from writers working in Australia missed out because I wanted the list to reflect stories being told about Australia. I’ve also left off some hugely entertaining books because they didn’t move me in the same way as these works haveIt’s a highly unsatisfactory process and I thank you for sticking with me this far! I guess if I could tell you what to read I would say read these works from 2019. They all have something important to say about our world, our country, our lives and our future. They have challenged me and given me tears and troubled sleep, but have also left me with the feeling that reading and being part of a literary community is a very fine thing to be!Alison Whittaker’s BlakworkBlakwork is a collection of Alison Whittaker’s poetry and essay covering personal and social biography, satire and critique. It explores Alison’s life as a First Nations woman, and her experiences as a poet and a lawyer.Alison’s collection and my time speaking with her for Final Draft helped crystallise for me threads of thoughts about the ways in which I read and the impact of that reading. At the beginning of the year I undertook to review the ways Final Draft represented voices in our community. It was important to me that voices of First Nations people as well as queer and other non-white, non-dominant culture writing was featured on the show.In Blakwork and through Alison’s writing I discovered that just having that representation is only a first step. That we read writers from a variety of cultural or otherwise perspectives means nothing if we fail to challenge the dominant colonial lens through which we read. Now maybe what I’m saying doesn’t resonate with you, maybe it makes you feel uncomfortable, maybe you feel like being told how to read is a betrayal of why you engage with literary discussion.For me, I discovered a challenge to decolonise my reading and approach the literature I consume in new ways.Alice Bishop’s A Constant HumA Constant Hum presents a collection of stories exploring the aftermath of bushfire. Across nearly fifty stories the collection looks at the many ways we try to understand and move forward when catastrophic events occur.At the time of A Constant Hum’s release I spoke with Alice and reviewed A Constant Hum I wrote that “The stories are visceral and sensory, opening up a world that the average reader may never experience…” Now mere months later and across the country Australian’s are getting a first hand understanding of fire and its seemingly new place in our summer life.Still many of us will live our city lives without confronting a wall of flames, but none of us are unaffected anymore. Alison’s stories open up a space where stories can be shared and these stories help us begin to make senseChristos Tsiolkas’ DamascusDamascus tells the story of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a Greek speaking Jew, a tent-maker who some two thousand years ago was met on the road to Damascus by a blinding light and was convinced that he must bring the teachings of the Jewish prophet Jesus to the world.This is a story perhaps well known to many, while others may have little understanding of the tent-maker whose letters came to spread Christianity to the world. In Damascus Christos Tsiolkas takes the story of Saul the man and explores his life and the origins of the early church.Christos’ book was a challenge to me in so many ways.Raised a Catholic, my initial reaction was ‘do I really need to go into these stories that I’d been subject to as part of my youth?’ It is also a departure from the stories of contemporary Australia that many of Tsiolkas’ readers are familiar with; the sort of stories we typically explore on Final Draft. So I resisted initially and squirmed through my early readings…There’s something about Christos’ writing though; visceral and charged, he brought me into a world where religion and social life was fractured and people sought truth amidst falsehood.The book didn’t seek my conversion and there was no road to Damascus moment, but in elucidating an historical moment and revealing characters from their dogmatic caricatures I was able to engage with these stories in a way that showed me more of a world I had long dismissed as irrelevant.Tara June Winch’s The YieldThe Yield is a story of Australia told across three distinct narratives; Albert Gondiwindi is writing a dictionary that he hopes will help revive his language and culture for his family when he dies. August, his granddaughter, is returning to Prosperous House to farewell her grandfather, just as the miners arrive to plunder the land for tin. While through the letters of Reverend Ferdinand Greenleaf we are taken back to the founding of Prosperous House and see exposed the racism and discrimination at the heart of these relations a century earlier.The Yield is quite simply an extraordinary literary work that I wish everyone could read for its style, its linguistic dexterity, its remarkable story and so many more small features that go into holding us as readers transfixed between the pages.It is one of many books that found me this year and challenged my thinking about the ways I read and try to understand my world and place in Australia. I’ve already mentioned Alison Whittaker’s Blakwork and the challenge of decolonising my reading. I’ll also mention here Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu and Tyson Yunkporta’s Sand Talk. Amongst these works The Yield stands up as a narrative that engages with the ways we read and understand history and culture and the reckoning that must be had between our colonial invader history and the history and culture of first nations people that was so brutally damaged but not destroyed.Mandaangguwu is the Wiradjuri word for thank you and I’ll say Mandaangguwu again to Tara and all these writers I mentioned (though not all Wiradjuri people).
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Maria Lewis discussing her new supernatural thriller The Wailing Woman.Sadie Burke is from an ancient family of Banshees. Banshees were exiled from Ireland to Australia in the 19th century and are considered to be amongst the least of all supernatural beings.At nineteen years old Sadie works in the family business as a forensic cleaner and tries to cope with the visions of those about to die. Then one day a face from her past returns to Sydney heralding changes that will shatter Sadie’s supernatural world!
To celebrate the end of the year Andrew is joined by Flex & Herds from Death of the Reader.Together the three bring you three murderous Xmas favourites and attempt to get to the bottom of why a Xmas murder mystery is just so comforting at this time of year!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Darug woman Jasmine Seymour discussing her new book for children Cooee Mittigar.Cooee Mittigar takes the reader on a journey through Darug Nura - the reader is taken through country and seasons and introduced to words and concepts in Darug and English.It’s a fabulous chance to learn language and share culture especially with younger readers who can then take it out and explore their world.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Leah Purcell discussing her novel The Drover's Wife.Set in 1892, The Drover’s Wife is a reimagining of the popular Henry Lawson short story. That story forms a reminiscence of Molly Johnson; Purcell’s protagonist. Molly lives in the high country with her four children while her husband is off droving. The family have a simple life; a one room house and a packed dirt floor and Molly is expecting her fifth child. As she approaches her due date though Molly is faced with extraordinary challenges as an aboriginal man, on the run from the law, appears at her door…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Winnie Dunn and Stephen Pham discussing this little red thing.this little red thing is a collection of short works of fiction, microfiction and poetry. It brings together nearly fifty authors from Western Sydney and incorporates a range of ideas, perspectives and vignettes of life in Western Sydney and across the world.
The Australian Classics Book Club is a monthly exploration of Australian writing; looking back over the forgotten & controversial, the much discussed & the underappreciated books of Australian Letters.Eat Me draws together four friends in the vibrant heart of inner Sydney in the mid-nineties. Julia is a photographer, Helen and academic, Chantal a fashion editor and Philippa a writer. We bounce with them from cafes to pubs and into their bedrooms as they navigate encounters with feckless, fabulous and flexible men.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Scott Westerfeld discussing his new novel Shatter City.After the events of Imposters, Frey is left impersonating her sister Rafia in the citadel of Shreve. Her plan is to bide her time until she can assassinate her father, end his regime and free the citizens. Plans go awry though as her fake fiancé, but actual boyfriend has arranged an escape and she’s on the run. Finding herself in the free city of Paz; for the first time in her life Frey doesn’t have to control every aspect of her being. She’s also got deadly information about her father’s plans. Plans that no one seems to want to believe until it’s too late!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Garry Disher discussing his new novel Peace.Paul Hirschhausen is the cop in Tiverton; a small town in farming country south of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. He’s only been there a year, but in the lead up to Christmas he wants what all cops want over the silly season, a little peace. Of course there’s some petty crime like a ute driving through the front door of the pub, but otherwise, so far, so peaceful. Then on his rounds one morning Hirsch encounters a distressed horse and follows it home to find a horrific scene.As the investigation begins a mysterious call comes through from Sydney and Hirsch has to do a routine welfare check on a family outside of town. A family no one seems to know existed…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode dives into the Final Draft archive to rediscover Robert Lukin's An Everlasting Sunday.An Everlasting Sunday describes the arrival of seventeen year-old Radford at Goodwin Manor. It is the English winter of 1962, a cold snap so severe that it will come to be known as ‘The Big Freeze’, and snow blankets the country. Radford is immediately suspicious of his new home and companions and vows to remain aloof. Goodwin Manor is a home for boys ‘found by trouble’ and there is a saying that it only takes two things to get there; a reason, and a final straw.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Christos Tsiolkas discussing his new novel Damascus. Damascus tells the story of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a Greek speaking Jew, a tent-maker who some two thousand years ago was met on the road to Damascus by a blinding light and was convinced that he must bring the teachings of the Jewish prophet Jesus to the world. Damascus is a story perhaps well known to many, while others may not have encountered the tent-maker whose letters came to spread Christianity to the world. .
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Katherine Johnson's discussing her new novel Paris Savages.Paris Savages tells the story of three Batdjala people who leave their home on K’gari and travel through Europe in the late nineteenth century. Bonangera, Jurano and Dorondera have agreed to travel with Louis Muller to highlight their culture and to petition the English Queen to intervene in the violence and calculated extinction of their people.
Winnie Dunn joined Andrew in the studio to discuss Boundless festival.Boundless is a festival of Indigenous and culturally diverse writers, The festival is happening on Saturday October 26 at Bankstown Arts Centre and is presented by Writing NSW and Bankstown Arts Centre in association with Sweatshop.Winnie Dunn is a Tongan-Australian Writer from Mount Druitt. She’s the General Manager of Sweatshop: the Western Sydney Writers Movement and will be appearing at the festival.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features acclaimed journalist Anna Krein discussing her first novel Act of Grace. Act of Grace entwines the stories of Robbie, Gerry and Nasim, taking us from their early lives into the present. Gerry grows up in fear of his father, Toohey; a returned veteran who raises Gerry with a heavy hand. Robbie must confront her own identity when the onset of her father Danny’s dementia means he no longer recognises his family. Nasim is growing up in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and attracts the attention of not only the dictator but his cruel, psychotic son.
The Stella Prize is an annual celebration of the best Australian Women writers. In 2017 Heather Rose won the Stella Prize for her novel The Museum of Modern Love.Join us today as we revisit Andrew's conversation with Heather; discussing The Museum of Modern Love and what the win means to her.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Stella Prize winner Heather Rose discussing her latest novel Bruny.A massive two-billion dollar bridge is being constructed to connect sleepy Bruny Island to the Tasmanian mainland. It’s jobs and growth for the Tassie economy but also meets with opposition from environmental groups and local interests.So when the bridge is bombed, the question is not so much who could have done it, but which of the many angry parties.
The Australian Classics Book Club is a monthly exploration of Australian writing; looking back over the forgotten, the classic, the much discussed and underappreciated in Australian Letters.Picnic at Hanging Rock tells the story of a group of students at Appleyard College in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria. The group go on a picnic to Hanging Rock on Valentines Day 1900 in the company of two teachers. As the afternoon wears on a group of students go out to investigate the Rock. The rest of the party rest in a drowsy torpor until one of the girls returns hysterical; for the others have disappeared completely...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sonia Henry discussing her debut novel Going Under.Going Under is the story of Kitty Holliday. Kitty’s a surgical intern at a major teaching hospital struggling to balance her idealism, against the gruelling reality of making it in the medical world. Suffering abuse at the hands of patients and senior doctors alike Kitty must rely on her friends if she is going to survive and continue to save lives.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.ring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jannali Jones discussing her debut novel My Father's Shadow.Kaya and her mother must flee their home and escape to the isolated hamlet of Mount Wilson. Kaya has witnessed something, a crime she cannot remember at her father’s office and now he is gone and she is in danger.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.ring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Meg Mundell discussing her new novel The Trespassers.From across the UK people jealously guard their clean bill of health in order to leave England’s shores in search of work in Australia. As passengers board The Steadfast, protesters line the docks denouncing the men, women and children as traitors for abandoning the infected country. On board the ship the passengers settle in for the month long journey to Australia; dreaming of the possibility that awaits them in this new and healthy land.All proceeds with interminable regularity until a crew member is found murdered in the early dawn. The only witness is a young boy silenced by fear...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.ring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Tara June Winch discussing her new novel The Yield.The Yield is a story of Australia told across three distinct narratives; Albert Gondiwindi is writing a dictionary that he hopes will help revive his language and culture for his family when he dies. August, his granddaughter, is returning to Prosperous House to farewell her grandfather, just as the miners arrive to plunder the land for tin. While through the letters of Reverend Ferdinand Greenleaf we are taken back to the founding of Prosperous House and see exposed the racism and discrimination at the heart of these relations a century earlier.
The BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival is a celebration of the stories of murder and mystery that offer us so much entertainment and insight into our world. The festival is joined this year by the announcement of The Ned Kelly Awards, Australia's premier celebration of crime writing.Join Andrew in conversation with BAD Sydney artistic director Catherine Du Peloux Menage and find out who won and why we love crime writing so much!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode takes us back to the Australian Classics Book Club.The Plains opens on an unnamed narrator arriving on the plains with the intention of making a film that will show the plains as they have never been seen. Haunting the local pub, talking with plainsmen about their world, our narrator seeks the patronage and influence that will allow him to realise his epic project. Later in the library of his benefactor; a plains landowner we enter the world of his creative process and confront the strange realities that make up plains life.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Ginger Gorman discussing Trollhunting.Trollhunting delves into the world of online trolls and the ways their activities shape the digital and irl lives we lead. It’s a deep dive into the activity of trolls and their networks targeting vulnerable individuals. The book explores research into the costs human, social and monetary of trolling and the ways trolling exerts control and inflicts damage on so many lives.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Helen Fox discussing her new novel How it Feels to Float.Biz is seventeen and lives near the beach in Wollongong. She’s got her posse at school and her best friend Grace.She’s also got her dad and they talk, often. The only thing is Biz’s dad died when she was seven, so she can’t exactly tell anyone about these conversations.Biz’s world is full of the daily struggles of those who are simultaneously trying to assert their identities and find their tribe. After a traumatic encounter, Biz finds herself ostracised by her friends and adrift, suffering in her own private world.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Elizabeth Bryer discussing her new novel From Here on, Monsters.Cameron Reybould is an antiquarian bookseller in a city not so different to our own. Her store is a haven, as all bookstores are to readers. Then one morning she arrives to find a stranger asleep on her couch.The mysterious appearance of Jhon heralds a break in another mystery; the translation of a rare codex Cameron has been commissioned to value.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode takes us back to the Australian Classics Book Club.
Behrouz Boochani's No Friend But the Mountains was voted by you as our most popular conversation from the first year of the podcast.No Friend But the Mountains is the stunning debut novel detailing the experience of seeking asylum and imprisonment on Manus Island. Debuting to critical acclaim and receiving numerous awards, No Friend But the Mountains is destined to become a classic of protest writing.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Alice Bishop.A Constant Hum is a collection of stories exploring the aftermath of bushfire. Across nearly fifty stories the collection looks at the many ways we try to understand and move forward when catastrophic events occur.The stories are visceral and sensory, opening up a world that the average reader may never experience but one that is at the heart of sense of community and humanity.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode takes us back to the Australian Classics Book Club.Memoirs of Many in One is purported as the collected papers of Alex Xenophon Demirjian Gray as edited by her friend Patrick White. Gray is an ageing actress living out her years with her daughter Hilda in a stately house in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. Trying, as she confesses to a burly taxi driver “...to discover- by writing out - acting out my life - the reason for my presence on earth” and we are invited to follow her recollections as they collapse the past and present of the many lives she has lived.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Mark Smith The Winter trilogy takes us into Australia’s not too distant future, a world ravaged by disease and environmental change, where we travel alongside Finn. As Land of Fences opens Finn is back in Angowrie with Kas and the summer has stretched out for them lulling them back to a sense of peace. The group are troubled by their memories when suddenly the radio springs back to life, transmitting an emergency broadcast. Could civilization be regrouping? Then the tracking chip in Kas’s arm buzzes, reminding them that civilisation is not a boon for all!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Alex Landragin discussing his debut novel Crossings.Crossings presents itself as a collection of three short stories or novellas; The first a short story from the French poet Charles Baudelaire, entitled The Education of a Monster. The second ‘City of Ghosts’ is a dark romance and mystery set in Paris on the eve of German invasion. The final tells the tale of a mysterious being travelling through generations moving from body to body witnessing history unfold.Delve beneath the surface however and a much stranger story, revealing an enduring love and a horrifying tale of revenge…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sarah Hopkins discussing her new novel The Subjects.The Subjects opens on a car transporting Daniel to an unknown destination. Daniel is a teenage drug dealer; exclusively prescription and dark web product, who has been diverted from jail at the last minute by a strange intervention.Dr J runs a facility that Daniel will come to call both a school and a home. There Daniel joins a group of unorthodox teenagers; alike but different to himself, to serve out their punishments in the remote outback setting.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features R.W.R McDonald discussing his debut novel The Nancys.The Nancy’s is the story of Tippy Chan. Eleven years old, Tippy lives in the small South Otago town of Riverstone. It’s been a shit year for Tippy. Her Dad died nine months ago and her mum is dealing with it by hiding all trace of his existence.But Tippy’s uncle Pike is coming to stay and together they share a love of Nancy Drew. Tippy has all Pike’s old copies and reads them voraciously wishing she had a mystery to solve. Pike arrives with his new boyfriend Devon and Tippy’s mum leaves for her cruise. And then Tippy’s teacher’s teacher’s horribly mutilated body is discovered by the only traffic lights on the way out of town.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode introduces a new podcast about books and mystery, Death of the Reader.Death of the Reader of the Reader takes you on a Murder Mystery World Tour. Presented Sundays at 9PM by Felix Shannon and Benjamin Herder you’ll be treated to the history and mystery of classic detective fiction; from classic British puzzles in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction to the weirdest of foreign detective fiction, and explore everything in the grizzly world of the 'locked room'. Catch more Death of the Reader here...https://player.whooshkaa.com/shows/death-of-the-reader
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode takes us back to the Australian Classics Book Club.This month's classic is Madeleine St John's A Pure Clear Light.It is nineteen nineties London and St John invites us into the home of the Beaufort’s; Simon has recently begun an affair, while Flora is flirting with a return to religion…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sulari Gentill discussing her new Rowland Sinclair mystery All the Tears in China.Book nine of the Rowland Sinclair mysteries sees Rowland and his Scooby gang of crime fighting artist friends travelling to Shanghai. Ostensibly they are there to represent the Sinclair family’s interests at trade negotiations, but it also helps to get Rowland out of Australia where he is only one step away from being disappeared by the various conservative forces he has crossed.In 1935 Shanghai Rowland discovers a world larger than he has ever known. When a body is discovered in his penthouse suite Rowland will discover his family fortune and connections only get him so far here and he cannot rely on his older brother to pull strings when he’s in a jam.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Judith Brett discussing her new history From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage.From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage offers the reader a history of Australia’s electoral systems from the period before Federation and describes how we came to be a nation that not only enforces compulsory voting but celebrates it.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Gomeroi poet Alison Whittaker discussing her new collection Blakwork.Blakwork collects Alison’s poetry and essay covering personal and social biography, satire and critique. It explores Alison’s life as a First Nations woman, and her experiences as a poet and a lawyer.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Omar Sakr discussing his new collection The Lost Arabs.The Lost Arabs explores identity, family and social life; with Omar delving into what it means to be Arab Australian, to be gay and how these identities are never just personal. The collection is deeply personal but also social look at the ways in which identity and community are structured, then legitimised or denied.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Melanie Cheng discussing her new novel Room For a Stranger.Room For a Stranger throws together an unlikely pairing in Melbourne’s suburbs. Meg Hughes is feeling every bit of her age and does like where things are heading. When her home in Melbourne’s suburbs is broken into, she joins a home share program so as to have some company and protection.Andy is studying biomedicine, desperate to conceal the fact he feels over his head and might fail. When his father’s cleaning business in Hong Kong begins to struggle financially Andy must give up his apartment and find cheaper accommodation.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Meg Keneally discussing her new novels The Ink Stain and Fled.The Ink Stain is the fourth in the historical Monserrat mystery novels. It takes the reader to colonial Sydney where Monsarrat; a former convict turned investigator must unearth the killer of an outspoken newspaper editor with a story that threatens to topple the colonial administration.Fled is the story of Jenny Trelawny and is based on the true story of the convict Mary Bryant. Jenny is a highwaywoman transported to the British colony of New South Wales rather than hang in her home of Cornwall. There she attempts a bold plan to steal a ship and sail to freedom!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode takes us back to the Australian Classics Book Club.This month's classic is Thomas Keneally's A Dutiful Daughter.Barbara Glover awaits her brother Damien’s tardy return to the family farm. Damien has been away at university while Barbara remains on the farm caring for her invalided parents. The malady that confines the Glover's is not your typical malaise and Barbara has had to perform a type of bureaucratic subterfuge to ensure that no one investigates the farm. In many ways Barbara’s parents have blamed her and she has taken on this responsibility ever since the night they turned into half human, half bovine centaurs.
Gerii Pleitez is the founder of Kara Sevda Press.In this special bonus Great Conversation Gerii describes the founding of Kara Sevda Press and the publication of her debut novel On The Sunday, She Created God.With a manifesto "to find and support Women of Colour writers and artists of all disciplines” and a mission to represent the diversity of Australia's arts community Gerii Pleitex is a force to be reckoned with.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Melina Marchetta discussing her new novel The Place on Dalhousie.The Place on Dalhousie begins in Queensland where Rosie Gennaro has fled her life and is working as a carer when floods ravage the town. Jimmy Hailler is in town volunteering with the SES and the two come together for a few brief nights.Two years later Rosie is back in Sydney with her young son, living in the house her father built. The house still occupied by Martha, Seb Gennaro’s second wife, the woman Rosie can barely bring herself to talk to.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jaclyn Moriarty discussing her new novel Gravity is the ThingGravity is the Thing begins with Abigail Sorensen. Abigail has been invited on an all expenses paid trip on an island off Tasmania’s coast. There she joins a group of strangers to discover ‘the secret’. All any of them know is that for most of their lives they have each received chapters of a mysterious book starting when they were fifteen.This mysterious Guidebook is more than just a curiosity to Abigail. The first chapter arrived the day before her brother went missing and her whole life she has wondered at the connection…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode takes us back to the Australian Classics Book Club.This month's classic is Ruth Park's Fishing in the Styx.Andrew is joined by Alaina Gougoulis, senior editor at Text Publishing and Tegan Bennett Daylight, author of Bombora and What Falls Away.Ruth Park is the beloved creator of classic Australian works such as The Harp in the South, Playing Beattie Bow and the Muddle Headed Wombat series. Fishing in the Styx is a memoir of Ruth Park’s writing life. From her her arrival in Sydney and marriage to D’arcy Niland, her love and literary partner, through her extraordinary literary life Ruth Park maintained an extraordinary literary output. Fishing in the Styx is a portrait of a writer amongst writers and illustrates the hardship and extraordinary creativity it took to live the writing life in Sydney through the middle twentieth century.
Michaela McGuire is the Artistic Director of the Sydney Writers Festival.In this special bonus Great Conversation, Michaela joins Andrew to discuss the launch of the 2019 Festival program and the significance of the theme Lie To Me.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Peggy Frew discussing her latest novel Islands.Islands is the story of a family; Helen and John, their daughters June and Anna. A family who like any other love and quarrel and are not perfect in the ways that you can only be with loved ones.And then one night, fifteen year old Anna doesn’t return home and the family’s lives are inexorably defined by that moment forevermore.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Dervla McTiernan discussing her latest thriller The Scholar.As the Scholar begins there’s been a hit and run outside Galway University and a young woman is dead. Cormac Reilly’s partner Dr Emma Sweeney discovers the body. But calling Cormac first leads to a world of trouble as the investigation is threatened by their personal involvement. When an ID card on the body shows the victim to be a billionaire heiress, it’s quickly apparent this is more than a simple accidental death...
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Andy Muir discussing his new novel Hiding to Nothing.Hiding to Nothing pitches the reader into the seedy world of Newcastle crime and the sweaty world of Newcastle painting during a hot summer. Lachie Munro just wants to play it straight but somehow he’s constantly being dragged into the dodgier side of life and when his father arrives after twenty years in prison it seems like a family reunion is only going to happen in the most dangerous of circumstances.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Alison Evans discussing their collection Highway Bodies.The end of the world seldom looks like you’d imagine it…In regional Victoria the locals are getting bitey. When the internet goes down and a curfew is imposed things are starting to look scary. Highway Bodies is a different kind of Zombie apocalypse, taking the reader into the lives of groups of teenagers struggling to survive and define their identities while the whole word just wants to bite them!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Maya Newell discussing a new book for children she has co-authored with Gayby Baby collaborators Charlotte Mars, as well as the documentary’s poster boy Gus Skattebol-James and illustrator Tom Jellet.Wrestle tells the story of a boy named Gus. Gus just loves wrestling! Gus loves wrestling so much he wants to dress up as a wrestler for Mardis Gras. Gus’s mums aren’t sure about this. They think wrestlers show a particularly violent picture of masculinity and they don’t want Gus to grow up thinking he can use violence to solve problems. But Gus just loves wrestling!Wrestle is a beautiful story about a family working together on a problem that means so much to each of them…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode brings back the Australian Classics Book Club for 2019. This month's classic is The Tournament from master satirist John Clarke. The Tournament is a novel about tennis. Except in the hands of John Clarke nothing is ever quite what it seems.Bringing together all the great thinkers, artists and personalities of the twentieth century in Paris we are treated to a competition like no other; with Tony Chekov seeded number one in the men's round, Simone De Beauvoir in the women's round and breakout Vinnie Van Gogh surprising everyone as he reinvents the game stroke by stroke.Featuring Text publisher Michael Heyward in conversation with Andrew Pople.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Debra Adelaide discussing her collection Zebra.Debra Adelaide’s Zebra is a collection of fourteen stories; from the hilarity of an intricately catered Xmas lunch to the horror of a future Australia where the Northern Territory Intervention is taken to a hideous conclusion. The titular story in the collection is a novella exploring the rule of a very different kind of Australian Prime Minister. Overseeing a period of calm and prosperity she’s unsure of herself privately but undoubtedly a public success; the stories focuses on her creation of a unique public garden for The Lodge while attempting to manage the relationships around her. Oh, and she’s also given a Zebra as a gift…
The Stella Prize is an annual literary award celebrating Australian Women writers. Now in its seventh year, the Stella is an important and influential award marking great Australian writing.The Stella Prize announced their long list this week sparking the discussion around what is important in Australian writing today.Louise Swinn is the Chair of the Stella judges panel and she joined Andrew Pople on Final Draft to discuss the task of sorting through the mountain of submissions and what themes and issues have emerged in the successful twelve. The 2019 Stella Prize longlist:● Little Gods by Jenny Ackland (Allen & Unwin) ● Man Out of Time by Stephanie Bishop (Hachette Australia) ● Bluebottle by Belinda Castles (Allen & Unwin) ● The Bridge by Enza Gandolfo (Scribe) ● The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper (Penguin Random House) ● The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones (Text Publishing) ● Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau (Brow Books) ● The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie (Finch Publishing) ● Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin) ● Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (UQP) ● Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Brow Books) ● The World Was Whole by Fiona Wright (Giramondo Publishing)
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kate Richards discussing her latest novel Fusion.Fusion takes us to a cabin in the Australian bush. Within the cabin live Sea and Serene joined by their cousin Wren. Sea and Serene are conjoined twins who have escaped to the cabin from an institutionalised life where they were treated as freaks.When one day Wren brings home an unconscious woman, the household is thrown into turmoil. The twins are healers, but can even they revive the badly beaten woman? And how did she come to be so far out in the bush?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Graeme Simsion discussing his latest novel The Rosie Result.The Rosie Result is the third chapter in the story of Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman. When we left them they had narrowly avoid marital breakdown in New York and were about to start a family. Now some eleven years later Don, Rosie and Hudson are returning to Australia following a quick decision after Don stabs himself in the leg with an oyster knife.Things in Australia get tricky as Hudson has trouble settling in to school and Don must face the similarities between Hudson and himself, and find a way to give Hudson the support he never had.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Bronwyn Bancroft discussing his latest book for children, written with Nina Lawrence, Clever Crow.Clever Crow or Wak Liya-Djambatj as it is in Djambarrpuyngu, is a story of a hungry crow searching for a meal. Djambarrpuynu is Yolngu language from East Arnhem Land and Clever Crow is told in both Djambarrpuynu and English.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode is a special event featuring Ninah Kopel from 2ser's History Lab podcast.Ninah's brought in a literary mystery that explores the intersection between storytelling and reality in Frank Moorhouse's Edith Trilogy of books about the formation of The Leagure of Nations.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Toni Jordan discussing her latest novel The Fragments.We meet Caddie Walker in mid eighties Brisbane. She’s a bookseller who has given up on academia, though not on her love of literature. Caddie waits in the line to see an exhibition of Inga Karlson’s work. The celebrated authors first novel All Has an End has inspired generations, and Caddie anticipates the thrill of viewing the few remaining fragments of Karlson’s second novel The Days, The Minutes. The book was thought lost in a fire until Caddie hears a few cryptic lines from a woman at the exhibition that set her off on a hunt to discover the novel’s fate…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jock Serong discussing his latest novel Preservation. Preservation explores the true story of the wreck of the merchant vessel Sydney Cove in Bass Strait in 1797. From the wreck 17 men make it to the mainland at ninety mile beach in Victoria and must walk over seven hundred kilometres to the incipient settlement at Port Jackson. Only three men survived this journey; a tale that survives to us recorded in the journal of the Scottish merchant William Clark.Into this space Jock Serong delivers a story of survival and treachery that examines the principles on which the colony of New South Wales was founded and the impact invading attitudes had on the land’s indigenous population.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Katherine Johnson discussing her latest novel Matryoshka.Sara Barsova has returned to her family home at the foot of Mt Wellington following the death of her Grandmother. Nina Barsova raised Sara as her own following the teenage pregnancy of Sara’s mother Helena. A chance meeting with Abdhul, an Afghani refugee, has Sara reevaluating her ties to family and she seeks to forgive her mother and finally discover the identity of her father.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features John Purcell discussing his latest novel The Girl on the Page.The Girl on the Page is a literary clash of epic proportions. Amy is an editor with the almost supernatural power to steer a book onto the bestseller lists, but when her boss hands her a special assignment Amy has no desire to help literary legend Helen Owen deliver her hotly anticipated new novel. Entering the new home of Owen and her Booker Prize listed husband Malcolm, Amy finds acrimony, recrimination and three brilliant manuscripts just awaiting a readship…
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Dr Clare Wright discussing her latest book You Daughters of Freedom.You Daughters of Freedom explores of the pioneering work done in Australia to gain the vote for white adult women and the influence that work, and the women who achieved it, would have across the world. In part two of the conversation Clare discusses the impact of Australia's granting the vote and the legacy of this period of democratic innovation.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Dr Clare Wright discussing her latest book You Daughters of Freedom.You Daughters of Freedom explores of the pioneering work done in Australia to gain the vote for white adult women and the influence that work, and the women who achieved it, would have across the world. In part one of the conversation Clare explores the lead up to Federation.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features the second part of the conversation on Queerstories a collection exploring ‘lives well lived from some of Australia’s finest LGBTQIA+ writers’.Joining Andrew on the show is a fantastic panel of writers who have contributed to the collection including Liz Duck Chong, Tim Bishop and the editor of the collection Maeve Marsden.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Queerstories a collection exploring ‘lives well lived from some of Australia’s finest LGBTQIA+ writers’.Joining Andrew on the show is a fantastic panel of writers who have contributed to the collection including Liz Duck Chong, Tim Bishop and the editor of the collection Maeve Marsden.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Rosalie Ham discussing her latest novel The Year of the Farmer.Five years of drought have been hard on Bishop’s Corner. They’ve been hard on the whole region, but Mitchell Bishop has suffered especially since Neralie McIntosh left town for the city. Mitch is now married to Mandy and she’s hellbent on getting the respect she feels she’s owed as Mrs Bishop.With the water authority ready to cut allocations to irrigators, no one’s got any money to pay anyone else and the town is ready to riot. And just who is the pubs new owner and what will they mean for the simmering tensions across the community?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Krissy Kneen discussing her latest novel Wintering.Wintering transports the reader down toward the southernmost parts of Tasmania and into the lives of Jessica and Matthew. They live a secluded life in an out-of-the-way cabin until one evening Matthew fails to return home and Jessica receives a call; the police have found his car and his phone abandoned on an isolated section of road.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Katherine Collette discussing her debut novel The Helpline.Germaine Johnson is great with numbers, people however are another matter. When Germaine finds herself out of work, the last thing she expected was to end up on the senior citizens helpline. But the mayor has just given her a special project, and her hero, a disgraced Sudoku champion has taken a particular interest in her work. How bad could it be?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Claire Varley discussing her new novel The Book of Ordinary People.The Book of Ordinary People follows five seemingly ordinary people across Melbourne. Each of their lives are buffeted by the cities daily grind; stuck in traffic or waiting on the train, and each must face these challenges from a unique perspective. The mother, and the family man, the young lawyer and the refugee. Each a part of the faceless mass that passes for community and each spinning closer to the other every moment.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jane Caro discussing the third in series on the life of Elizabeth I, Just Flesh & Blood.Just Flesh & Blood sees England’s Queen Elizabeth the first at the end of her life; still the virgin queen, but surrounded by attendants who no longer quail at her authority. Elizabeth ruled between 1558 and 1603 and we pass back and forth through her reign and come to know the woman who understands that beneath the inviolability of her crown she has always been Just Flesh & Blood.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features a special preview of The Australian Classics Bookclub, a new podcast coming soon from Final Draft.The Australian Classics book club is a monthly exploration through Australia’s writing heritage. In this special preview we’re getting into the most recent book club and discussing a living legend of Australian writing Helen Garner, and her second book Honour & Other People’s Children.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.In today's episode we remember Peter Corris.Peter Corris wrote more than ninety books in his lifetime, including forty two novels in the Cliff Hardy series, which has seen him acknowledged as the Godfather of Australian Crime fiction. In this conversation from 2015 Andrew and Peter discuss the creation of Cliff Hardy, the writing game and Andrew's shameful lack of crime fiction reading.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Angela Meyer discussing her debut novel A Superior Spectre.Jeff has travelled to Scotland to die. Isolated and alone, he possesses the technology to throw his mind back through time. Leonora faces the daunting task of moving to Edinburgh, the city where her mother died. As she moves south she discovers the strange sights of the city are nothing compared to the images of the future visited in visions as if from another mind.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Heather Morris discussing her novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz.In 1942 Lale Sokolov was on the first transport from Slovakia to Auschwitz-Birkenau; the most notorious of the Nazi death camps. In the position of Tatowierer Lale is able to use his relative privilege to smuggle food to starving prisoners and provide some modicum of solace in their lives. When he meets Gita he finds his own life transformed and vows to survive and live a life with the woman he loves. Based on a true story, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an incredible evocation of the strength of the human spirit.
In this special bonus episode of Great Conversations Andrew speaks with Dr Omid Tofighian, discussing Behrouz Boochani's No Friend But the Mountains.No Friend But the Mountains takes the reader into Australia’s offshore detention facility where Behrouz Boochani has been imprisoned for five years. Omid is an academic at the University of Sydney and the University of Cairo. He worked as a friend, collaborator and translator for Behrouz on No Friend But the Mountains and provides valuable insights into Behrouz’ experience and his philosophy in No Friend But the Mountains.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Behrouz Boochani discussing his book No Friend But The Mountains.Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish novelist, philosopher and filmmaker. He has been imprisoned on Manus Island for five years and in that time has written journalism and produced an internationally acclaimed film Chauka, Please Tell us the Time. No Friend but the Mountains imagines his journey, his life and experiences on Manus, detailing the oppression and torture of a life imprisoned.
In this special bonus episode of Great Conversations Andrew and Tess Connery from 2ser's Breakfast program discuss Behrouz Boochani's No Friend But the Mountains.No Friend But the Mountains takes the reader into Australia’s offshore detention facility. Behrouz has been imprisoned on Manus for five years and in that time has written journalism on his imprisonment and produced an internationally acclaimed film Chauka, Please Tell us the Time. No Friend but the Mountains imagines his life and experiences on Manus, detailing the oppression and torture of life imprisoned without recourse or release.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Gregory discussing his new novel A Sand Archive.A Sand Archive wings its way between Paris and Geelong as we follow FB Herschell, a young engineer who must solve the problem of stabilising sand dunes to ensure the safe construction of The Great Ocean Road. Landing in Paris on the cusp of the 1968 student protests, Herschell discovers his project is intimately connected to the ways in which we grow and shape the world and we understand our place within nature.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Tessa Lunney discussing her debut novel April in Paris, 1921.In April in Paris, 1921 we meet Katherine King Button returning to London, having departed Europe at the end of the war. Katherine is Kiki to all those who know her from those days, and London is just a pit stop on her way to Paris and the freedom that only that city can offer.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Maryam Azam discussing her poetry collection The Hijab Files.The Hijab Files emerged as a response to the paucity of representations of hijabi women in Australian literature. The collection engages with modern assumptions about women who wear the hijab and expands these limited, often racist imaginings to encompass the variety and fashion of the hijab.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Sally Piper discussing her novel The Geography of Friendship.When Samantha, Lisa and Nicole embark on a five day hike they could not predict that they would descend into a harrowing torment at the hands of a faceless man. More than twenty years later they return to the trail and attempt to resolve themselves to the past they have been trying to escape.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Robbie Arnott discussing his debut novel Flames.When Levi McAllister's mother returns from the dead he decides to build a coffin for his sister. A fisherman mourns the loss of his best friend, a fur seal. Meanwhile a strange force is moving through the wombat population of southern Tasmania. Flames is a novel you have to read to believe!
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Jennifer Mills discussing her latest novel Dyschronia.Since childhood Sam has experienced debilitating migraines that give her glimpses of the future. Living between time leaves Sam confused and doubtful of her own reality, and when the shoreline of Sam’s hometown of Clapstone retreats and the sea disappears, the residents are panicked. Did Sam know about this? And if so why weren’t they warned?
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Claire G. Coleman discussing her debut novel Taboo.Terra Nullius takes us a to a kind of fictional future-history of Australia. We are on the run with Jacky, a Native stolen from his family and escaped from the convent school where he is treated little better than a slave.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Kim Scott discussing his novel Taboo.Taboo tells the story of invasion and dispossession; as a group of Noongar people return to their land, considered taboo since the massacre of their people. It explores how generations of separation have not dimmed their connection to their land and traces a path into the future.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Holly Ringland discussing her debut novel The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.In The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart we meet Alice as a child suffering a terrible loss. As we follow her through to adulthood we learn the impact of secrets and the power of nature to reach out to us in our sorrow.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Michael Mohammed Ahmad discussing his latest novel The Lebs.The Lebs draws on events in Sydney through the late nineties, through the September 11 attacks in New York and the Cronulla riots. The Lebs explores the experience of being a young Arab man in a country that sees you as a demon.
Great conversations feature conversations with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Alexis Wright discussing her Stella Prize winning collective memoir of Tracker Tilmouth.Tracker Tilmouth was an extraordinary individual. An Arrente man, he was born in Alice Springs before being stolen from his family and raised in a state home Darwin. Told through collected remembrances and stories, Wright's biography of Tracker illuminates the huge contribution he has made to Australian life as an activist, leader and thinker dedicated to Aboriginal rights.
Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world.Today's episode features Bram Presser and his award winning debut The Book of Dirt.The Book of Dirt takes us to Prague on the eve of war where Jakub Rand has newly arrived to begin his life. As the city is occupied by the invading Nazi army Jakub must protect himself and those he loves. The story explores Bram’s grandparents tale of survival, and parallels this with his own search for information on the history his grandfather spoke so little of.